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Lobelia deckenii; photograph (c) Kristof Zyskowski, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) Kristof Zyskowski, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2013-08-09

Lobelia deckenii (Asch.) Hemsl.

Gin-and-tonic Lobelia

Campanulaceae · Tanzania

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Lobelia deckenii, photograph (c) Kristof Zyskowski, some rights reserved (CC BY)Lobelia deckenii, photograph (c) Kevin Brix, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)Lobelia deckenii, photograph (c) Christina, some rights reserved (CC BY)Lobelia deckenii, photograph (c) Christina, some rights reserved (CC BY)Lobelia deckenii, photograph (c) John Brew, some rights reserved (CC BY)Lobelia deckenii, photograph (c) John Brew, some rights reserved (CC BY) 20 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Coldest month, mean nightly low
-1.0°C
Jul at the habitat, not a floor; extremes not used (the weather cell's ground is too far off) CHELSA
Warmest month, mean daily high
12°C
Feb and Mar at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
2,721mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
28–40DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in the habitat's months, not shifted
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Wet summers: the rain comes March to May and November to December (the habitat's months, not shifted), read as a summer growing season. rain rule, CHELSA
Not shifted: the shift rule does not apply to this habitat. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Lobelia deckenii is a species of flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae. It is a giant lobelia endemic to the mountains of Tanzania. It is listed as a threatened plant of the forests of Cherangani hills, Kenya. It grows in moist areas, such as valley bottoms and moorland, in contrast to Lobelia telekii which grows in a similar but drier habitat. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Lobelia deckenii", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Lobelia

Lobelia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Campanulaceae comprising 444 species, with a subcosmopolitan distribution primarily in tropical to warm temperate regions of the world, a few species extending into cooler temperate regions. They are known generally as lobelias.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Lobelia", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads a summer growing season: 70% of the median year's rain (2,032 mm of 2,730 mm) falls in March to May and November to December, warmer than the year (wet-season mean 7.0 °C against a yearly mean of 6.2 °C). Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere. The habitat lies within 10° of the equator, where the shift rule does not apply, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Rain

2,730 mm in the median year at the habitat, 2,032 mm of it March to May and November to December. Wettest month April at 722 mm, driest month September at 57 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,844 mm to 3,267 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 2,721 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 2,730 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 28 to 40 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 26, the highest 90th-percentile month 41).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low -1.0 °C in July (across the grid cells of the range -5.7 °C to 4.3 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 11.9 °C in February (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: none read. The nearest figure is -1.0 °C, the coldest month's mean nightly low, July, in the median year (CHELSA); a month's mean of its nightly lows is warmer than the nights a floor is read from. The daily extremes were read at a weather cell whose ground is too far above or below the typical spot to correct for, and are not used.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 58 to 64% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. No cold floor is read without a daily extremes series; the coldest month's mean nightly low named in its sentence is not one. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Lobelia deckenii through the yearWarmest months February and March, mean daily high 12 °C; coldest month July, mean nightly low -1.0 °C; 2,730 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.-10°-5°0°5°10°15°20°frost°C · day and nightcold quarter02004006008001000mm rainDLI 28–40RH 58–64%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 19 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C11 / 7–1712 / 8–1812 / 7–1711 / 7–1610 / 5–159 / 4–148 / 3–139 / 4–1410 / 5–1511 / 6–1610 / 6–1610 / 6–16
Night °C3 / -1–83 / -1–93 / -1–94 / -1–93 / -2–80 / -4–6-1 / -6–4-1 / -5–50 / -4–51 / -3–73 / -2–83 / -2–8
Rain mm138 / 115–148100 / 80–113268 / 212–313722 / 439–851525 / 271–643129 / 64–16689 / 47–11763 / 40–8257 / 37–76122 / 90–155297 / 227–360220 / 182–251
DLI39 / 35–4040 / 38–4137 / 37–3832 / 31–3529 / 27–3428 / 26–3429 / 27–3432 / 31–3637 / 37–3939 / 38–4036 / 33–3736 / 32–37
RH %61 / 57–6359 / 55–6160 / 55–6464 / 58–7164 / 58–7261 / 52–6960 / 50–6760 / 50–6658 / 52–6460 / 55–6563 / 58–6763 / 59–66

The daily extremes were not used: the correction for elevation, +1752 m, is beyond the 1,000 m either way that a lapse rate is applied over, so the weather cell's ground is other terrain than the typical spot's. So no cold floor is read for this species, and the coldest month's mean nightly low is not taken as one. What that cell gave, so corrected, over 44 years: absolute minimum -4.7 °C, 1st-percentile night -2.6 °C.

How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 19 grid cells holding the 69 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1860:4344 (-3.025, 37.225). Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 19 distinct grid cells holding 69 of the 69 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1860:4344 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -3.00_37.500, lapse-corrected +1752 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 3595 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeTanzania · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-3.095, 37.329 · in the densest population, 116 records (100% of those in range)
Kew's description“monocarpic shrub or tree” · “montane tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 116 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 69 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 61 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 3 km away. 9 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 47 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 116 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Lobelia deckenii, photograph 1did not loadLobelia deckenii, photograph 2did not loadLobelia deckenii, photograph 3did not loadLobelia deckenii, photograph 4did not loadLobelia deckenii, photograph 5did not loadLobelia deckenii, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Kristof Zyskowski, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) Kevin Brix, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA); (c) Christina, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) John Brew, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Gentianella rupicola Gentianella rupicola Gentianaceae Photo: CC BY, David Parra PuenteCulcitium nivale Culcitium nivale Asteraceae Photo: CC BY, Denis ZabinBaccharis caespitosa Baccharis caespitosa Asteraceae Photo: CC BY, Yuri SofronovCulcitium canescens Culcitium canescens Asteraceae Photo: CC BY, Humber AlbertoPotentilla dombeyi Potentilla dombeyi Rosaceae Photo: CC BY, Yuri SofronovHuperzia crassa Huperzia crassa Lycopodiaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Haplochromis

Other Lobelia 53 in the reference

Lobelia aberdarica Lobelia aberdarica Aberdare Lobelia Photo: CC BY-SA, Stan ShebsLobelia aguana Lobelia aguana Campanulaceae Photo: CC BY, Alan RockefellerLobelia amoena Lobelia amoena Southern lobelia Photo: CC BY, carterLobelia andrewsii Lobelia andrewsii Trailing lobelia Photo: CC BY, Petra HollandLobelia angulata Lobelia angulata Lawn lobelia Photo: CC BY, 大澤風季 ohsawa_FukiLobelia boninensis Lobelia boninensis Campanulaceae Photo: CC BY, 岸本年郎Lobelia bridgesii Lobelia bridgesii Campanulaceae Photo: CC BY, Cody HinchliffLobelia cardinalis Lobelia cardinalis Cardinal-flower Photo: CC BY-SA, Douglas GoldmanLobelia chinensis Lobelia chinensis Chinese lobelia Photo: CC BY, Hilda ChanLobelia cliffortiana Lobelia cliffortiana Cardenala azul Photo: CC BY, 黃美滿Lobelia comosa Lobelia comosa Cluster Lobelia Photo: CC BY-SA, Tony RebeloLobelia dortmanna Lobelia dortmanna Water lobelia Photo: CC BY, Chline River all 54 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Dortmanna deckenii; Dortmannia deckenii; Tupa deckenii; Tupa kerstenii. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Campanulaceae
Described by
(Asch.) Hemsl.
Native to
Tanzania
Wild records
116 in range · 61 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -3.00_37.500, lapse-corrected +1752 m at 6.5 °C/km; read, and set aside: the correction for elevation, +1752 m, is beyond the 1,000 m either way that a lapse rate is applied over, so the weather cell's ground is other terrain than the typical spot's, so no cold floor is shown
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22none of the photographs on this page is credited to GBIF: those shown are other sources', and GBIF's were the same photographs or were set aside by the photograph rules
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 12 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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