LOBE'LIA SIPHILIT'ICA. 



BLUE LOBELIA. 

 Class. Order. 



PBNTANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 



Natural Or tier. 



CAMPANULACEJE. 



No. 61. 



Lobelia is a name instituted by Plumier, after 

 Matthias de Lobel, a Flemish botanist of the six- 

 teenth century; who, in youth, acquired an ardent 

 love of plants; and, through life, cultivated the sci- 

 ence of botany with considerable success. He was 

 appointed botanist to King James I., and died near 

 London, at the advanced age of seventy-eight. 

 Woodville observes that this plant derived its ap- 

 pellation, Siphilitica, from its efficacy in the cure of 

 siphilis, according to the experience of the North 

 American Indians. As its antisiphilitic powers have 

 not, however, been confirmed by European practice, 

 it may be needless to treat at all on its medical 

 qualities. 



Several plants of the Lobelia tribe possess very 

 active medicinal properties, particularly the Lobelia 

 Tupa, a native of Chili. This species is poisonous 

 in the extreme, and acts as an emetic, simply by 

 smelling the flowers. 



Whether the Lobelia siphilitica be planted in the 

 open ground, or kept in a pot, the offsets, should be 

 be divided in the spring; and they will blossom 

 freely without further care. 

 16 Hort. Kew. 2, v. 1, 359. 



