Lobeliaceae - Hippobroma?

[Thomas Lammers]

At 10:29 AM 8/17/00 -0400, John Nelson wrote:

>         We have been made aware of an unkown, cultivated herb, procured
> from eastern Costa Rica, now growing locally, which produces LOTS of
> seeds. I take it to be Hippobroma, maybe H. longifolia. It is potentially
> a pest,  at least in greenhouses, I guess. I would appreciate any ideas
> you may have as to its identity-- sorry I don't have a photo right now--a short
>description follows:

This is almost certainly Hippobroma longiflora (L.) G. Don, the sole
species of the genus.  It has also been treated under the invalid generic
name Laurentia Adans. (the type of which is a Mediterranean species now
assigned to Solenopsis C. Presl), and assigned to Isotoma (R. Br.) Lindl.,
an otherwise Australian genus it only vaguely resembles.  It was originally
endemic to Jamaica, but has now spread throughout the tropics as a weed,
apparently via cultivation.  If you are able to send a specimen at some
point, I can confirm the determination.


Thomas G. Lammers, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor and Curator of the Herbarium (OSH)
Department of Biology and Microbiology
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901-8640 USA

e-mail:       lammers at uwosh.edu
phone:      920-424-7085
fax:           920-424-1101

Plant systematics; classification, nomenclature, evolution, and
biogeography of the Campanulaceae s. lat.
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"Today's mighty oak is yesterday's nut that stood his ground."
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