Volume 11 > Part 4 > Year 2014 > Page 515 > Campanulaceae > Hippobroma

Hippobroma longiflora (L.) G.Donwfo-0000833400

Gen. Hist. 3: 717. 1834.— Lobelia longiflora L., Sp. Pl. 2: 930. 1753.— Isotoma longiflora (L.) C.Presl, Prodr. Monogr. Lobel.: 42. 1836; Kerr in Craib, Fl. Siam. 2: 302. 1936 (‘Isostoma’); D.Y.Hong, L.L.Klein & Lammers, Fl. China 19: 563. 2011 (electronic version).— Laurentia longiflora (L.) Peterm., Pflanzenreich: 444. 1845; Tuyn, Fl. Males., Ser. 1, Spermat. 6: 140. 1960. Fig. 9.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Erect herb 9–35(–50) cm tall, glabrous or hairy at apex. Leaves: petiole absent; blade glabrous or sparsely hairy, oblanceolate or elliptic, 7–16 by 1–3.7 cm, base attenuate, margin coarsely and mostly deeply serrate, apex acute-acuminate. Flowers solitary, fragrant; pedicel densely hairy, 3–10 mm long; bracteoles up to 5 mm long; ovary densely hairy, 2-locular, obconic or ellipsoid, 6–9 mm long; sepals hairy, linear, 8–20 mm long, margin denticulate; corolla white, tube hairy, 65–100 mm long, lobes (narrowly) elliptic or linear, 18–25 mm long; anthers connate, all hairy at apex, forming a tube ca 7 mm long; style ca 7 mm long, stigma 2-lobed. Capsule pendent, densely hairy, broadly ellipsoid, or obconic, 11–15 by 8–12 mm. Seeds light brown, 0.7–1 mm long.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai (Doi Suthep-Pui NP, garden in the temple compound); CENTRAL: Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok).

Distribution : A monotypic New World genus from the West Indies (Jamaica – type), but widely naturalized in the tropics and subtropics.

Ecology : Cultivated and locally escaped, deciduous dipterocarp-oak forests; granite bedrock. Flowering and fruiting: September.

Notes: This species is often said to be poisonous, especially to horses (thus the name, hippo = horse; broma = poison) because its milky juice contains nicotine and lobeline which cause unpleasant effects at small dosages.