22 LOBELIA CARDINALIS. CARDINALS FLOWER. 



was named in his honor by Pkimier, and this fact shows in what 

 estimation his works were hekl by those who so long afterwards 

 followed him. In many cases plants, with comparatively modern 

 names, w^ere already known under other names long before, and 

 those now named Lobelia were called Rapiintunn in old works ; 

 but our present species, Lobelia eardinalis, was probably not 

 known to Lobel himself, as the first notice of it that we find 

 in English history occurs in the " Herbal " of Parkinson, thir- 

 teen years after his death, who says he had the roots from 

 France where it was received from the New World, having been 

 sent over by the French who had settled in Canada. It is there- 

 fore probable that the Cardinal Flower was among the earliest 

 of our native flowers to receive attention in England. It is also 

 probable that the popular name of Cardinal's Flower came with 

 the plant from France, for it is referred to by Rivinius, Ruppius, 

 and other early continental authors, as being then the popular 

 name ; but the earliest reference to this name is by Parkinson as 

 before cited. The name was no doubt suggested by the very 

 showy scarlet flower, as a cardinal is one of the highest digni- 

 taries of the Roman Catholic Church, and is distinguished by his 

 wearing a bright scarlet cassock and scarlet hat. That it has 

 many elements of superiority over other plants will be readily 

 admitted, and this fact seems to have impressed itself on many 

 differently-constituted minds. Thus while the early French 

 Canadians would invest the flower with a religious association, 

 others compare it with royalty, and we find Mrs. Sigourney re- 

 ferring to it as 



" Lobelia attired like a queen in her pride." 



Some have martial superiority in view, and our ancient friend 

 Parkinson assures us that it is a "very brave" plant. In all 

 these allusions, however, we see the idea of superiority prevails, 

 and it is not surprising that the floral emblemists have dedicated 

 the Cardinal Flower to " Distinction." 



As to its exact place among beautiful flowers, there may -be a 

 question. Dr. Lewis Beck, who, in 1833, published a "Botany 



