Distribution: Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to Oregon; circumboreal.
Habitat: In shallow water at the margins of ponds and lakes.
Flowers: June-August
Origin: Native
Growth Duration: Perennial
Conservation Status: Sensitive in Washington (WANHP)
Pollination: Hummingbirds
Aquatic, perennial herbs with fibrous roots, the stems hollow, upright, simple, up to 1 m. tall, the herbage glabrous throughout.
Basal leaves in a rosette, linear, fleshy, hollow, curved, 2-8 cm. long; cauline leaves few, reduced to filiform bracts.
Flowers few and well-spaced, single on curved pedicels; calyx lobes 5, deltoid, blunt, 1.5-2.5 mm. long; corolla two-lipped, pale blue or white, 1-2 cm. long, the lower lip deeply 3-lobed, the tube deeply split between the two upper lobes; filaments and anthers united into a tube, with two anthers shorter than the other three; ovary inferior.
Capsule 2-celled, ellipsoid, 5-10 mm. long and 3-5 mm. wide.
PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Lobelia dortmanna in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database
WA Flora Checklist: Lobelia dortmanna checklist entry
OregonFlora: Lobelia dortmanna information
E-Flora BC: Lobelia dortmanna atlas page
CalPhotos: Lobelia dortmanna photos