71. LOBELIACEJE. 4-75 



tumid at base ; receptacle naked ; pappus of simple, copious, white- 

 silky hairs, in many series : achenia compressed, not rostrate. Lvs. 

 mostly spinulous. Hds. with many yellow fls. 



Flowers bright yellow, in showy heads. Achenia angular. Perennial No. I 



Flowers pale yellow, in large heads. Achenia flat. Annual Nos. 2, ;l 



1 S. arvensis L. Root creeping; stem glabrous, erect; \va. runcinate- pin- 

 uutilid, spin ulous-dentate, cordate, clasping at base, with short and obtuse auri- 

 cles; pauicles umbellate-corymbous ; ped. and invol. hispid; ach. somewhat 

 4-angled, ribs transversely rugulous. Waste grounds, naturalized, E. Mass, and 

 S. N. York, rare. St. angular, about 2f high. Hda large, with deep yellow 

 fla. Eur. 



2 S. asper Vill. Lvs. cordate-amplexicaul, oblong-lanceolate, undulate, spinuloux- 

 dentate; ped. subumbellate ; ach. oval-obovale, 3-ribbed on each side. Found in 

 similar situations with the next, but less common, U. S. St. 1 to 2f high, 

 smooth except at the summit of the branches where it is often hispid-glandular. 

 Lvs. with numerous, short, spiny teeth, wavy or slightly runcinate, the upper 

 ones clasping so as to appear perfoliate. Scales with few scattered hairs. Aug., 

 Sept. (S. spinulosus B\v. S. Carolinianus Walt.) 



3 S. olenkceus L. Lvs. sagiltate-amplexicaul, runcinate-pinnatifid, subspinulous, 

 dentate ; ped. downy ; invol. at length smooth ; ach. many-slriate. A sordid look- 

 ing plant, in waste ground, among rubbish, &c. Plant of a glaucous hue. St. 

 angular, hollow, fragile, 2 to 3f in height. Lvs. apparently clasping, with large, 

 retreating lobes at base, wavy and serrated in. a runcinate manner, the teeth end- 

 ing iu weak spines. Invol. dilated at base, with yellow corollas. Sept. Eur. 



SUBORDER III. L A B I A TIFL O R M. 



115. CHAPTA'LIA, Vent, (Dedicated by Ventenat to the celebrated 

 French chemist M. ChaptaL] Heads radiate ; involucre campanulate ; 

 scales in few series, linear, acute ; receptacle naked ; ray flowers $ , 

 ligulate, disk-flowers , but sterile, bilabiate, lips equal, outer 3-, inner 

 ^-parted ; acheuia glabrous ; pappus capillary. H Acaulescent herbs. 

 Lvs. all radical. Hd. solitary, cyanic. 



C. tomentosa Tent. Lvs. oblong-ovate or lance-oval, on a short petiole, re- 

 trorsely denticulate, clothed with a dense, white tomentum beneath; scape 

 loosely tomentous ; hd. nodding until in flower, thence erect on the slender, sim- 

 ple scape. Moist pine barrens, N. Car. to Fla. and La. An interesting plant, 

 alone representing the suborder Labiata3flora?. Lvs 2 to 4' long, 6 to 15" wide, 

 often subsessile, the upper surface at first arachnoid, at length smooth. Scapo 

 6 to 12' high. Rays about 20, rose-red or white. Disk florets pale yellow. 

 Mar., Apr. 



ORDER LXXI. LOBELIACE^E. LOBELIADS. 



Herbs or shrubs with a milky juice, alternate, cxstipulato Ivs. and scattered fin. 

 Calyx 5-lobed or entire. Cor. monopetalous, irregular, split down to the base on 

 one side. Stamens 5, free from the cor., united into a tube at least by their anthers. 

 Ovary adherent to the calyx tube. Style 1. Stigma surrounded by a fringe. Fruit 

 a capsule 2 3-(rarely 1-) celled. Seeds numerous, albuminous. 



Genera 29, xpecies 375, most abundant in countries near the tropics, .is W. Indies, Brazil. 

 Sandwich Islands, but common also throughout the temperate zoae.s. 



Properties. The species of Lobelia are more or less poisonous. The milky juice is acrid and 

 narcotic, producing effects similar to those of Tobacco. L. inflata has loni; been considered a 

 remedy for spasmodic asthma, but more recently is adopted in the regular practice of the "Bot- 

 anic School" of Medicine as an emetic, expectorant and sudorific, applicable in numerous dis- 

 eases. Like Aconite and other medicinal poisons, it is, of course, to be used with caution. 



