LOBELIA. 



189 



An order comprising many plants possessed of acrid and narcotic prop- 

 erties. Eepresented in North America by the genus 



LOBELIA. 



Character of the Genus. Calyx 5-cleft, with a short, variously shaped 

 tube. Corolla-tube slit along the upper side ; the limb divided into 2 

 lips, the upper with 2 erect lobes, the lower spreading, 3-cleft. Two of 

 the anthers bearded at the top. Pod 2-celled, many-seeded. Annual or 

 perennial herbs. Flowers axillary or in bracted racemes. 



Lobelia inflata Linne. Indian Tobacco. 



Description. Calyx without auricles at the sinuses. Corolla small, pale 

 blue. Pod inflated. 



An annual or biennial herb. Stem angled or striate, paniculately 

 branched, 9 to 18 inches high, pubes- 

 cent. Leaves ovate or oblong, the 

 upper ones diminishing into leaf -like 

 bracts. Flowers small, in racemose 

 spikes, appearing from midsummer 

 to autumn. 



Habitat. Common along road- 

 sides and in old fields, generally in 

 dry soil. 



Lobelia syphilitica Linne. 

 Great Lobelia. 



Description. Calyx hairy, half 

 the length of the corolla, the sinuses 

 auriculate, its tube hemispherical. 

 Corolla much larger than in the pre- 

 ceding species, blue, varying to white. 



A perennial herb. Stem simple, 

 1 to 3 feet high, somewhat hairy, 

 leafy to the top. Leaves thin, acute 

 at both ends, irregularly serrate. 

 Flowers crowded in a dense spike or 

 raceme, appearing late in summer. 



Habitat. In moist places ; common. 



Lobelia cardinalis Linne. Cardinal Flower. 



Description. Flowers similar in form to the preceding but of an in- 

 tense scarlet color. 



A perennial herb. Stem smooth or slightly pubescent, simple, 2 to 

 4 feet high. Leaves lanceolate, denticulate. Flowers showy, in an elon- 

 gated, somewhat one-sided raceme, appearing late in summer. 



Habitat. In swampy places ; common. 



FIG. 140. Lobelia syphilitica. 



