WEEDS OF THE BELL-FLOWER FAMILY. 



141 



ovate, clasping the stem. Flowers solitary or 2-3 together in the axils of 

 the upper leaves; corolla wheel-shaped, blue or violet, i inch or more 

 broad ; stamens 5, separate. Capsule oblong, opening just below the 

 middle. (Fig. 102.) 



Common in dry or sandy rather 

 poor soil in southern Indiana; infre- 

 quent northward. May-Sept. It oc- 

 curs mostly in grain fields, thinly 

 seeded meadows and waste places, the 

 flowers closing by noon or mid- 

 afternoon. Those on the lower part 

 of the stem are usually rudimentary, 

 without corolla. The name was first 

 given to a European species because 

 of some fancied resemblance to an old- 



fashioned round mirror. Remedies: 



increased fertilization; pulling or 

 rig. 102 Showing 2 forms of flowers and sin- cutting before the seeds ripen. 



gle fruit . (After Bntton and Brown .) 



106. LOBELIA SYPHILITICA L. Great Lobelia. (P. N. 3.) 



Erect, simple, rather stout, somewhat hairy, 1-3 feet high; leaves 

 thin, numerous, oblong or oval, pointed, 2-6 inches long. Flowers in a 

 dense, leafy bracted, loose spike, showy, bright blue, rarely white, 1 inch 

 long; corolla 2-lipped, split to the base on one side, the upper lip with 2 

 erect lobes, the lower spreading and 3-cleft; anthers united into a tube or 

 ring. Capsule 2-valved, opening at the top. 



Common in low moist grounds along ditches and borders of 

 marshes, streams and thickets. July-Sept. Except in color its 

 flowers are similar to but stouter than those of the cardinal-flower. 

 A striking and handsome member of our late summer flora, and 

 occupying for the most part only waste ground, it is doubtful if it 

 should be classed as a weed. It spreads both by seeds and offshoots 

 from the base of the stem and may be controlled by mowing several 

 times for one season or by grubbing. 



107. LOBELIA INFLATA L. Indian Tobacco. Asthma Weed. (A. N. 3.) 

 Stem erect, leafy, usually much branched, 1-2 feet high; leaves thin, 



ovate or oblong, blunt-toothed, short-stalked or sessile. Flowers small, 

 pale blue, i inch long, in loose, bracted, spike-like racemes. Capsule in- 

 Hated, J inch long, many seeded, cross- veined between the ribs. (Fig. 103.) 



Common in dry open woods, meadows, pastures and borders of 

 fields. July-Oct. It contains an acrid milky juice, and the whole 

 plant is poisonous when eaten, but its leaves, flowering tops and 

 seeds are much used in medicine as an expectorant, sedative and 



