GREAT BLUE LOBELIA 



Lobelia siphilitica L. 



July - September In thr cmiIv autumn tlio roadside ditches and wood- 

 Ditches, streams laud stroanisides often show spikes of a bright hUie 



llower — a dot']>. ahuost ultramarine hhic marked with 

 white on the thnH'-paried lip. This is the great blue lolielia. 



Autumn somehow is the fitting time for bhie flowers sueh as these. 

 Now the sky becomes a deej)er blue. There is a haze on the hills; there 

 arc fli)eks f)t' bhiebii'ds Hying. The lobelia is auotb.er expression of tliat 

 magnificent autumnal color. 



Althougb tlic blossom is well suited t;) garilen use, where truly blue 

 flowers are scarce and in dcmainl. tbe wild iduc lolK'lia s(>Idom is used 

 in American gardens, liut as early as KKi."), seetls of this jjlant. together 

 with other American rarities wbicb were new to Knglish eyes, were sent 

 from the colony of A'irginia to be grown in England. Here the flower was 

 highly prized and many hybrids were produced from it. Acioss the world 

 from its native land, tbe lobelia became a favorite garden llower. 



But lobelias have been known still longer as medicinal plants. They 

 contain in their juices a poison whose effect is somewhat like that of nico- 

 tine when taken internally in large doses. It affects the respiratoiy sys- 

 tem, the heart, and the blood pressure. Xevertheless. the lobelia's poison 

 when administered in i)ro])er doses as a medicine is used to relieve 

 asthma, bronchitis, and certain resj)iraton' diseases. 



Cardinal llower (Lnhcl'm cardinal is), a bright scarlet lobelia, is a 

 native of swamps and wet places, of the edges of drainage ditches which 

 it margins with spikes of dazzling color, or of wet meadows where it 

 grows with drifts of white and blue luipatorium, marsh grasses, and 

 goldenrods. 



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