LOBELIACE^ (LOBELIA FAMILY.) 275 



2. S. asper, Vill. Smooth, or the upper part of the stem and peduncles 

 hispid ; leaves entire, clasping, fringed with weak spines ; the lowest oblong- 

 obovate, the upper lanceolate ; acheuia smooth. — Fields. Florida, and north- 

 ward. June - August. — Stem 2° - 3° high. 



Order 76. LOBELIACE^E. (Lobelia Family.) 



Chiefly herbs, with milky juice. Leaves alternate, without stipules. 

 Flowers irregular. — Calyx 5-lobed, the tube adhei-ent to the 2-celled 

 ovary. Corolla unequally 5-lobed, valvate iu the bud ; the tube split 

 on one side to the base. Stamens 5, inserted on the calyx ; the anthers, 

 and commonly the filaments, united into a tube. Style solitary: 

 stigma 2-lobed, surrounded with a ring of hairs. Fruit baccate and 

 indehiscent, or capsular and 2-3-valved, many-seeded. Seeds anat- 

 ropous. Embryo straight in fleshy albumen. — Acrid poisonous 

 plants. 



1. LOBELIA, L. Lobelia. 



Corolla bilabiate ; the upper lip small, erect or reflexed, 2-parted, the lower 

 spreading, palniately 3-cleft ; the tube straight. Anthers, or a part of them, 

 bearded at the apex, curved. Capsule 2-celled, 2-valved at the apex, many- 

 seeded. — Stems erect. Leaves undivided ; the serratures glandular. Flow- 

 ers in terminal racemes or spikes. Calyx sometimes with an appendage 

 between the lobes. 



* Flowers scarlet. 



L L. cardinalis, L. (Cardixal-flower.) Smooth or slightly pubes- 

 cent ; stem stout, simple ; leaves lanceolate, denticulate ; bracts leafy ; sta- 

 mens and style much longer than the corolla. — Muddy banks. July - Sept. 

 11 — Stem 2° - 3° high. Raceme many-flowered. Flowers very showy. 

 * * Flowers blue or white. 

 -i- Tube of the corolla A" or more long. 



2. L. syphilitica, L. Hairy ; leaves thin, lanceolate, acute at each 

 end, coarsely serrate ; racemes leafy, many-flowered ; calyx hairy ; the lance- 

 olate denticulate lobes half as long as tiie large (T long) light blue corolla. 

 — Swamps along the mountains. August -Sept. ^ — Stem l°-3° high. 



3. L. puberula, Miclix. Softly pubescent or villous, or sometimes 

 nearly smooth ; leaves thickish, mostly obtuse, lanceolate or oblong, glandular- 

 denticulate; spikes mostly 1-sided; calyx top-shaped, the linear lobes nearly 

 as long as the tube of the bright blue corolla. — Swamps and low ground. 

 August -Sept. ::>/? — Stem l°-2° high. Corolla half as large as in the 

 preceding. 



4. L. amoena, Michx. Smooth or rough-pubescent ; leaves scattered, 

 oblong, obtuse, denticulate, the lower ones tapering into a long petiole, the 

 uppermost nearly sessile; racemes 1-sided, mnny-flowered ; calyx lobes linear- 

 subulate, mostly glandular ; corolla (1' long) bright blue. — Swamps, Florida 

 to South Carolina, and westward. Sept. -Oct. ^ — Stem 2° -4° high. 

 Lowest leaves 3' - 6' long. Bracts small. 



