<< Back 9/17/03 The Naturalist's Corner By Don Hendershot Here’s a tip for all of you red color-seekers waiting on autumn. Summer has already set the bar. Cardinal flower, lobelia cardinalis, is presently glowing red from streambanks, pond edges, roadside ditches and wet areas across Western North Carolina. When it comes to red, few plants or leaves can match the intense, rich, velvet-red of the cardinal flower. Lobelia cardinalis was named after the Belgian botanist Mathias de L’Obel who often used the “latinized” form of his name — Lobelius. The species name, cardinalis is said to have been inspired by the red of the Roman Catholic Cardinals’ robes. It was officially named from specimen collected in Canada in the mid 1620s. The cardinal flower grows from two to four feet tall. The flowering spike that tops the plant may reach two feet or more in length. The crimson blossoms open from the bottom up and blooms can continue for weeks. The petals are united to created a two-lipped corolla. This hummingbird favorite is also a favorite of backyard butterfly and bird gardeners. These flowers bloom as the southern migration of ruby-throated humming birds is in full swing. They are hummingbird magnets. Most native plant aficionados have good luck with cardinal flower. It can be grown in full sun or light shade. It should be kept moist. Marketed as a perennial, the cardinal flower actually isn’t. Each year the flowering stem and its associated roots die after setting seed. However new offsets grow from the axils of the lowermost leaves and often put down root before the original plant dies. Cardinal flower ranges from Canada, south to Florida and Texas and across the plains to California. It blooms from late summer through mid autumn. Native Americans including the Cherokee used cardinal flower medicinally and ceremoniously. Some of the medicinal uses included treatment of bronchial spasms, treatment of digestive problems and use as a sedative. The root was touted by some tribes as a love potion or used as a magic powder to dispel storms. Although used in medicines, the cardinal flower is quite toxic. It contains at least 14 alkaloids similar to those found in nicotine. One common name of the plant is Indian tobacco. Extracts from the leaves and fruits of cardinal flower can cause sweating, vomiting, severe pain and even death. While this intense scarlet bloom can be seen and recognized from great distances, you are missing a treat if you don’t get an up-close and personal view of this outrageously red flower. The petals seem velvet to the touch. One spot in Waynesville to get great looks at cardinal flower is the intersection of Bethel Road (U.S. 276) and Raccoon Road. There is a wet spoil area there full of cardinal flower. It is set off wonderfully by the deep purple iron weed and by the yellows of goldenrod and other asters in the field. A close-up of this flower will help you understand what Nathaniel Hawthorne was getting at when he wrote “The world is made brighter and sunnier by flowers of such a hue ... it arrays itself in this scarlet glory. It is a flower of thought and feeling too; it seems to have roots deep down in the hearts of those who gaze at it.” (Don Hendershot can be reached at don@smokymountainnews.com)