CARDINAL FLOWER 



America, and Asia. Living as it does in the clefts of 

 rocks, waving its blue bells from inaccessible heights, 

 apparently delicate and yet in- 

 vincible, it is one of the few 

 flowers that have appealed 

 alike to the hunter, the wan- 

 derer, the naturaUst, and the 

 poet. On rocky banks and high 

 ledges it is slender and delicate, 

 its stems swaying in every 

 breath of wind; when trans- 

 ferred to the garden it becomes 

 sturdy and stocky. The plant 

 is extremely variable in height, 

 degree of branching, number 

 and size of flowers, texture of 

 foHage, shape and divergence of 

 calyx lobes — characters which 

 seem to stand in imperfect equi- 

 librium, ready to respond to 

 slight changes of environment. '""''l^^S'""'* 



CARDINAL FLOWER. RED LOBELIA 



Lobelia cardindlis 



Named in honor of Matthias de L'Obel, a Flemish 

 botanist — 1 538-161 6. 



Perennial. Native. Bearing the most briUiant red 

 flower in our northern flora. Wet or low ground, be- 

 side streams, ditches, and meadow runlets. New Bruns- 

 wick to the Gulf States, westward to the Northwest 

 Territory and Kansas, common in Ohio. July-September. 



223 



