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Lobelia on steroids?

comments (4) June 12th, 2010 in gallery

ksb1 ksb1, member
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This plant is growing in full sun, acid soil in western CT. It looks vaguely like a lobelia cardinalis (some of which are growing nearby) but this has grown rapidly to about 5' high while the other lobelia are 2-3'. It just flowered (early June). It's growth (like it's on steroids) suggests it's a weed. Would like to ID it before it goes to seed so I can decide to pull it or not. Many thanks. 

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Comments (4)

RobinB writes: I agree with Comarish59, the leaves and flower buds do not look at all like evening primrose and actually, the flower doesn't exactly match either. It looks more to me like Four O'Clocks which are a fast-growing annual. They can be grown from seed or by digging up the root and over-wintering it inside. Posted: 9:36 am on July 4th
Comarish59 writes: While the flower does indeed look like an evening primrose, the rest of the plant does not. While the northern varieties do get taller than down here in Texas(about10-14 inches here) the tallest I've see was in northern Idaho and was only 2 1/2 feet tall. Also all oenothera I've ever seen have been multi-stemmed sprawling plants not a tall spike like this. Posted: 12:41 am on June 15th
LotsaSun writes: Looks a lot like the mystery plant I posted last week - Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) just as you said above. Now that I know what they are, I'm seeing them everywhere I go!! I'm growing mine by choice and am going to do my best to keep it from going to seed and spreading. Wish me luck!! Posted: 4:31 pm on June 12th
ksb1 writes: oenothera biennis? I have another oenothera (fruticosa, I think) also in flower at the same time as this monster. Posted: 11:40 am on June 12th
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