LOBELIACE^. 227 



Named in honor of Matthias de Lobel, physician and botanist to James I. 

 Died at London, 1616. Herbaceous plants. Flowers solitary axillary, or in 

 terminal, bracted racemes. The corolla limb is apparently 2-lipped, the lower 

 lip of 3, spreading, lanceolate segments, the upper of 2 smaller segments. 



1. L. cardina'lis. 



Stein erect ; Zea^je* broad-lanceolate, serrate ; racemes terminal, secund. A 

 tall plant of superior beauty, native of our meadows and streams. It has been 

 introduced abroad, and is highly prized by the florists of Europe. The stem is 

 commonly 2 feet high ; but by the railroad side west of Utica, numerous 

 plants of this species occur 3 and 4 feet. The leaves (as well as the whole 

 plant) are smooth, alternate, ovate-lanceolate, becoming minute amontr the 

 flowers. At the top of the stem there are about a dozen large, scarlet flowers, 

 on axillary peduncles. In favorable circumstances their number increases to 

 near a hundred, forming a superb racemose spike, equalling in length and 

 excelling in beauty the proudest plume that the warrior ever wore. July, 

 Aug. ?er. Cardinal flower. 



2. L. INFLA'TA. 



Stem hairy, branched, erect; leaves ovate-lanceolate, sessile, serrate, pilose ; 

 capsule inflated. Root fibrous. Stem erect, very rough, angular, simple, 

 becoming branched in proportion to the luxuriance of its growth, 10 — 15 

 inches high. Leaves elliptical, sessile, hairy and veiny. Flowers in leafy 

 spikes, axillary, peduncled. Corolla small, pale blue, leaving an oval, turgid 

 capsule in the calyx. Grows every where in pastures and roadsides. This 

 plant has been rendered famous by the Thompsonian doctors, in whose 

 practice it constitutes the " grand catholicon" for the cure of '• all diseases." 

 Its specific action, as above stated, is that cf a violent emetic. In small doses 

 it is powerfully expectorant. To its salivating property is probably owing 

 the drivelling of horses in autumn. July— Sept. Ann. Indian Tobacco. 



3. L. Dortma'nna. 



Leaves linear entire, fleshy, 2-celled ; scape simple, naked, racemose. A 

 curious aquatic, growing in ponds, the flowers only rising above the water. 

 Stem erect, hollow, nearly leafless, long, bearing above the surface a raceme 

 of 3 or 4 remote, pedicellate flowers. Leaves mostly radical, spreading, 

 obtuse, submerged, having 2 longitudinal grooves. Flowers droopino-, pale 

 blue. July. Per. JVater Lobelia. 



4. L. siphili'tica. 



Leaves ovate-oblong, unequally serrate ; calyx hairy, shorter than the tube 

 of the corolla, the sinuses reflexed. A fine, showy plant, but inferior in 

 beauty to L. cardinalis, growing in wet meadows. Stem erect, 2 — 4 feet 

 high, simple, angular, with short hairs. Leaves lanceolate, broader at base, 

 acute at each end, somewhat erosely dentate, pilose. Flowers large, on short 

 peduncles, each solitary in the axil of an ovate-lanceolate bract. Corolla 

 bright blue or purplish. Capsule half superior. Jl. Per. Blue Cardinal flower. 



5. L. pube'rula. 



Pubescent; stem erect, simple ; leaves ovate-oblong or elliptical, obtuse, 

 sessile, repand-denticulate ; r«ccH(e spicate, .secund ; calyx ciliate, the seg- 

 ments longer than the tube of the corolla. Native of mountains, &c. Stem 

 12—30 inches high, scarcely furrowed. Leaves covered with a short, downy 

 or silky pubescence, 1 — 2 inches in length and half as wide, the lower ones 

 broadest towards the end. Flo v/ers large, on very short pedicels, each solitary 



