Blue Large

1 Jun, 2005 in art pottery by admin

Blue Large

Gardening: Blue Lobelia and Its Gorgeous Twin Sister

Lobelia group of plants was named by Linnaeus for Matthias de lObel who was a Flemish botanist. He was a physician to Englands James I.

Cardinal flower is also known as the Red Lobelia. The wild flower is a member of the Lobelia Family. It is mostly found in Kansas, Gulf States and west. It flowers from July to September. It flowers mostly in these three months. It is not too tough to plant this flower. Its seed are enough to get it planted. This wild red flower grows in streams, meadow runnels, ditches and low or wet ground. The plant does not branch out. It is two feet tall initially but later it grows to become four and a half feet in length. Their leaves are somewhat jagged and can be of various shapes. They can either be lance-shaped or oblong. The plant mostly produces vermilion colored flowers though white or rose colored flowers can also be found. Its botanical name is Lobelia cardinalis.

The difference in color between Cardinal flower and Blue Lobelia was explained by Sir John Lubbock. He did various experiments and proved that blue is the favorite color of bees and the Blue Lobelia chose to flatter the bees as her benefactors. Bees love these blue flowers. All the red flowers in garden of the nature like trumpet flower, coral honeysuckle, cardinal, painted cups, Oswego Tea and columbines attract the humming bird. Other flowers which entice the humming bird are fuchsias, nasturtiums, phloxes, pelargonium, cannas, salvia, gladioli and verbenas.

The Blue Cardinal Flower or Great Lobelia is found from Ontario to Dakota. Southwards it is found in Georgia and Kansas. Its botanical name is Lobelia syphilitica. It starts to flower in July and flowers till October. It grows well near the streams, in wet or moist soil. It produces flowers in different colors like bright blue or faded blue with a white tinge. The flowers are one inch in length and they sit on the summit of a straight, large leafy spine. The plant has a simple, stout, verdant and hairy look. The plant grows up to three feet. The leaves are pointed and oblong in shape. The leaves can be up to six inches in length and two inches in width. They are irregularly notched.

Lobelias have always attracted evolutionist because this flower provides some interesting connecting links. Their corolla is flattened and split on the upper side. This proves the inclination towards ray or strap flowers. Composites have confined these flowers for later development as against single tubular blossoms. Lobelias crowd along a stem and this serves to attract the bee which is passing by. The bee gets a large number of feeding places shut together.

It is not fair to compare the cardinal flower with the Great lobelia though both are often compared and referred as twin sisters. Both the flowers belong to the Lobeliaceae family. Most men love red and hence it is unfair to compare the great lobelia with its beautiful sister. The humming bird fertilizes red flowers including the Red Lobelia. The number of red flowers has declined over the years due to decrease in the number of humming birds. Bees love the blue lobelia though!

About the Author

George Wood is a successful webmaster of many popular sites including
lowers
and
aquarium
site. If you want to read more about gardening, click over to George
gardening
site.

How long does the Large Blue Butterfly (Maculinea arion) live, including it's larval stage?

I am making my own little animal encyclopedia and I am trying to compile a list of facts about the Large Blue (it's diet, size, etc.) but I'm finding it very hard to find information about how long it lives in total.

The eggs hatch after some seven to 14 days, depending on the weather. Young larvae feed on thyme flowers for about two weeks during late July and early August. Then, they fall to the ground and are adopted by red ants and taken off to the underground ant nests where they feed on ant grubs.

The larva spends 10 months as a predator in the ant nests, then pupates there.

The butterflies emerge during the period early-June to mid-July, after some three weeks in the pupal stage.

Now here is some extra info if ya need it hope all this helps!!

The large blue produces only one generation a year. The adult individuals do not live long. The average lifespan is 5 to 7 days, but many butterflies die before that. Females lay their eggs on the flower buds of thyme, Thymus praecox. The caterpillars spend the first three weeks on the thyme flowers. They feed on it and rapidly develop until the last larval instar L4. Once having reached this instar they stop feeding and fall to the ground. From that point on, the caterpillars depend on the care of Myrmica (red) ants. The worker ants on their way to collect food for the colony will find the caterpillars and take them to their nest. Once in there, the caterpillars change their diet and feed on eggs and larvae of the ants. The caterpillars hibernate and pupate inside the ant colony, and the adult Large Blues appear from late June until mid July of the next year.

Habitat: Grassy places with flowers, especially Thyme (Thymus) the larval food plant. Usually dry habitats which, presumably, suites species of the the ant genus Myrmica on which the larvae also feed. See the section on Behaviour below. Frequently amongst bushes or woodland edges.

Big Blue Dress Widescreen