This favorite flower of humming-birds is widespread in wetlands of North America (except the northwest), Central and South America. Named subspecies and varieties are not generally considered distinct in recent treatments (as reviewed by Y). In Ky. the white-flowered form has been recorded in MCRE (Rogers 1941). Sterile hybrids with siphilitica have been rarely found in other states (Y); 2n = 14 in both species (as in most Lobelias). As with most other Lobelia species in Ky., which generally produce overwintering rosettes, the typical life-cycle of cardinalis remains somewhat uncertain; plants are generally described as perennial but the fate of individual rosettes is variable. With cultivation of cardinalis, Devlin (1989) noted: "In the autumn, most plants produced 1 basal offshoot (rosette), some plants produced two or more offshoots, and a few plants died." Bartkowska (2013) provided more detail: "Inflorescences begin producing basal rosettes as early as mid-August (or sooner if the individual was eaten or damaged). Flowering ramets typically produce zero to four basal rosettes for overwintering, although plants with up to six rosettes have been observed in the study population (pers. obs.). During the following season, each surviving rosette may produce a single physiologically independent inflorescence." It appears that each rosette that produces an inflorescence then dies.