338 FLORA HISTORIC A. 



LOBELIA. Lobelia. 



Natural Order Campanacece. Lobeliacece.^ Juss : a 

 Genus of the Peiitandria Monogynia Class. 



Monsieur Charles Plumier, an eminent French 

 botanist of the time of Louis the Fourteenth, gave 

 the name of Lobelia to this family of plants, in 

 honour of Matthias *Lobel, of Lisle, who was 

 appointed botanist and physician to James the 

 First of England ; and who had also the super- 

 intendence of Lord Zouch's botanical garden, at 

 Hackney, during the latter part of the reign of 

 Queen Elizabeth. 



Mr. Aiton enumerates thirty-four species of 

 Lobelia in the Hortus Kewensis, eighteen of which 

 are natives of the Cape of Good Hope, and seven 

 belong to America, three of which are ranked 

 amongst the most favourite flowers of the curious 

 tlorists. 



The Cardinal's-ilower, Lobelia Cardinalis, was 

 introduced to the British parterre in the unhappy 

 reign of Charles the First, whose herbalist (Par- 

 kinson) mentions it as a " brave plant," in his 

 *' Garden of Pleasant Flowers," which he dedi- 



