(LOBELIA FAMILY.) 275 



2. S. asper, Vill. Sinouth, or the upper part of the stem anil peduncles 

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

 obovate, the upper lanceolate ; acheuia smooth. Fields. Florida, ami 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 adherent to the 2-celled 

 ovary. Corolla unequally 5-lobed, valvate in 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. LOJJKLIA. 



Corolla bilabiate ; the upper lip small, erect or r.eflexed, 2-parted, the lower 

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

 bearded at the apex, curved. Capsule 1 celled. 2-valved at the apex, many 

 seeded. Steins erect. Leaves undivided; the serratures glandular. Flow- 

 ers in terminal racemes or spikes Calyx sometimes with an appendage 



between the lobes. 



* Flowers scarlet. 



1. L. cardinalis, L. (CAKDINAL-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. 

 2/ Stem 2 - 3 high. Kaceme many-flowered. Flowers very showy 



* * Flowers blue or white. 

 t- Title of the corolla 4" 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 the large (!' long) light blue corolla. 

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



3. L. puberula, Michx. 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. amCBna, Michx. Smooth or rough-pubescent ; leaves scattered, 

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

 uppermost nearly sessile; racemes 1 -sided, many-flowered : cnlyx lobes linear 

 subulate, mostlv glandular; corolla (V long} bright blue. Swamps, Florida 

 to South Carolina, and westward. Sept. -Oct. "21 Stem 2-4 high 

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



