LOBELIACE.^. I/I 



S. rigida (Rigid Golden Rod). — This is one of the most orna- 

 mental, and may be very well admitted in large collections of 

 mixed-border plants for variety's sake. It grows rigidly erect, 

 with oblong, roughly-hairy leaves. The stem divides at the 

 top into erect compact racemes, appearing in September and 

 October. 



Stokesia cyanea (Bbieflo7vered S.) — This is a very hand- 

 some plant, growing about i8 inches or 2 feet high. It forms 

 dense tufts of stem-clasping leaves, spatulate in form, quite 

 entire on the margin, but slightly hairy. The flower-heads are 

 large, deep sky-blue, appearing in September. Native of Car- 

 olina and other Southern States of America. It flourishes 

 quite well in any ordinary garden-soil if well drained, and may 

 be propagated freely by division. This is a choice plant. I 

 have no experience of it north of London ; in that district it is 

 perfectly hardy, but in cold wet localities it would in all pro- 

 bability not endure the winter without protection ; and in such 

 localities it would at any rate flower so late as to be almost 

 useless. It has been recommended as a pot-plant for green- 

 house decoration in early winter, and it is well worth a place 

 indoors or out. In warm favourable locahties it continues to 

 bloom far into winter out of doors. 



LOBELIACE^. 



This is a large and brilliant order, the members of which are 

 mostly inhabitants of the warmer regions of the world. Ver)^ 

 few of them are hardy enough to endure the winter climate of 

 the British Islands, but a good many of the perennial her- 

 baceous species are indispensable in mixed flower-borders and 

 in other styles of ornamental gardening, and consequently 

 deserve some notice here in detail. The culture of each 

 genus will be given in its proper place as it comes under 

 notice. 



Lobelia is an extensive family, composed of a few annual 

 and biennial and a large number of perennial herbaceous, and 

 a few evergreen suffruticose, species. It is liberally distributed 

 over many of the warmer parts of the globe, but in Europe 

 and northern Asia representatives are few and rare. Britain 

 is favoured with two species, Z. urcjis and L. Dortmaniii ; the 

 former a very rare plant, having hitherto been found in one 

 locality only — in Devon, near Axminster; and the other, being 



