LOBELIACEAB 163 



234. M> it i ; r 1 1 . L. 



[Dedicated to Matthias de Label, a Flemish Botanist.] 



Calyx 5-cleft, the sinuses sometimes aurieulate ; tube short, tumid. 

 Corolla sub-bilabiate; upper lip smaller, 2-lobed and erect; lower 

 lip spreading, 3-lobed ; tube slit on the upper side. Style 1 ; stigma 

 mostly 2-lobed, fringed with a pilose ring. Capsule half superior, 

 2-celled, thin, opening at the top. Seeds minute, oblong, scabrous. 

 Leaves (of the following) subsessile; flowers usually in terminal 

 bracteate racemes. 



t Flowers bright crimson. 



1 . \*. csirdiiialf s, L. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute at each 

 end, denticulate ; raceme elongated, rather secund, leafy below. 

 CARDINAL OR CHIEF LOBELIA. Cardinal-flower. 



Perennial. Stem 2 to 3 feet high, usually simple but growing in bunches, pu 

 bescent. Leaves 3 to 6 inches long. Raceme 6 to 12 or 15 inches long ; flowers 

 rather large, very brilliant, opening in succession, or few at a time ; anthers grey- 

 ish-blue ; pedicels hirsute. 

 Hub. Along swampy rivulets : frequent. Fl. July. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. This superb plant would be in the collection of every ama- 

 teur gardener, if it had to be imported at a high price ; whereas 

 now like most of our native floral beauties it is generally neg- 

 lected. 



ft Flowers mostly bright Uw, and large. 



2. I*. Nypllilit lea, L. Hairy ; leaves oblong or ovate-lanceo- 

 late, acute, sinuate-serrulate; calyx-lobes short, the auricles reflexed, 

 shorter than the tube. 



SYPHILITIC LOBELIA. 



Perennial. Stem 1 to 3 or 4 feet high, angular, nearly simple. Leaves 2 to 4 

 inches long. Raceme 4 to 10 or 12 inches long; calyx-segments bristly-ciliate, with 

 the margins of the sinuses folded back. Corolla nearly an inch long, sometimes 

 tinged with purple, rarely milk-white. 

 Hob. Moist grounds ; along rivulets : frequent. FL Aug. Fr. Octo. 



Obs. This is also a showy plant, when in bloom, next in rank, 

 among our indigenous species, to the preceding. It was, formerly, 

 a famous Indian Nostrum, and had such repute, that the secret was 

 purchased of the Aborigines : but, when once known, it soon shared 

 the usual fate of purchased Nostrums ; and possibly like all exag- 

 gerated reputations its character may have been, thereafter, un- 

 duly disparaged. 



3 L. pub^rula, MX. Pubescent ; stem simple ; leaves ovate- 

 oblong, mostly obtuse, glandular-denticulate ; calyx-lobes long, the 

 auricles scarcely reflexed, about as long as the densely hairy short 

 tube. 



PUBERULENT LOBELIA. 



Perennial. Stem 1 to 2 feet high, striate, rather slender, strictly simple. Leaves 

 1 to 2 inches long, varying from obovate to lance-ovate, the upper ones smaller 

 and acute. Raceme 2 to 6 or 8 inches long; caly&segments about as long as the 

 tube of the corolla; corolla % to % of an inch in length, often tinged with purple. 

 Hab. Moist meadows ; Penn Township : not common. Fl. Aug. Fr. Sept. 



