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White East-Himalayan Lobelia
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White East-Himalayan Lobelia
P Native Photo: Thingnam Girija
Common name: White East-Himalayan Lobelia
Botanical name: Lobelia clavata    Family: Campanulaceae (Bell flower family)

White East-Himalayan Lobelia is a herb, somewhat shrubby, 1.5-11 ft tall. Stems are round, fistulose, woolly. Stem leaves are alternate, stalkless; blade inverted-lanceshaped or oblong. Uppermost often narrowly elliptic or lanceshaped, 7-33 x 2.2-8.4 cm, thickly papery, both surfaces bristlyu, base wedge-shaped or narrowed into a stalked base, margin minutely toothed or crenulate, tip tapering, pointed, or blunt. Flowers are borne in densely paniculate racemes. Flowers are oriented toward one side, erect; bracts lanceshaped, narrowly elliptic, narrowly oblong, or linear, 10-30 mm. Flower-stalks are 5-12 mm, round. Sepal tube is bell-shaped or hemispherical, 3-6.5 x 3-6 mm, densely velvety, sepals linear-triangular, 7-16 x 0.7-2.5 mm, margin entire or with 1-4 denticles per side. Flowers are somewhat two-lipped, white, rarely tinged pale pink or pale blue, 2-3.4 cm, outside shortly velvety, inside hairy; upper lobes linear, about 2/3 as long as total length of flower; lower lobes wider, about 1/3 as long as total length of flower. Stamens are fused into tube above base; filament tube densely finely velvet-hairy; anther tube 5-7.5 mm, densely hairy along sutures; lower 2 anthers barbate at top. Capsules are drooping, somewhat ovoid or broadly ellipsoid, 6-13 x 5-9 mm, densely finely velvet-hairy. White East-Himalayan Lobelia is found on grassy slopes, forests, roadsides, in Eastern Himalayas, at altitudes of 700-1800 m, in China, NE India, Laos, N Myanmar, N Thailand, Vietnam. Flowering: November-April.
Medicinal uses: In China whole plant is used in treatment of arthritis, fractures, fevers, blood stasis. White juice is used to treat heavy sores. It is also used in veterinary medicine for horses, for parasites in stomach.

Identification credit: Tabish Photographed in Imphal, Manipur.

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