LOBELIA 



LOBELIA 



1897 



or globular, joined to the ovary, short-toothed ; stamens 

 5, united into a tube around the single style, the tube 

 often protruding from the cleft into the corolla: fr. a 

 2-valved caps. Species 250 or more, in many parts 

 of the world, well represented in E. U. S. 



There are two horticultural groups of lobelias, the 

 annuals and the perennials. The annuals are low nor- 

 mally blue-flowered species suitable for bedding and 

 edgings. They are of the easiest culture either from 

 seeds or cuttings. See L. Erinus (No. 1). The peren- 

 nials are again of two types, the hardy and the half- 

 hardy or tender. The hardy kinds are natives, of which 

 L. cardinalis and L. syphilitica are the leading repre- 

 sentatives. These inhabit bogs and low places, and the 

 best results under cultivation are to be expected in 

 moist and cool spots. The half-hardy sorts are chiefly 

 derivatives of the Mexican L. fulgens, a plant deservedly 

 popular in the Old World, but which has not attained 

 great favor here. These species may be bedded out in 

 the northern states. They are carried over winter in 

 pots or in a cellar. They usually give good results the 

 first year from seed, if started early; or seeds may be 

 sown in the fall and the plants carried over in a frame. 

 The hardiness of the hybrid perennial lobelias in this 

 country is yet to be determined. It is probable that 

 forms of L. fulgens will stand outdoors in the middle 

 states if given winter protection. In the latitude of 

 Washington they are hardy in winter but are scarcely 

 able to withstand the summers. 



alba, Ic, 6. 

 angustifolia, 13. 

 atrosangmnea, 9. 

 aurea, 13. 

 bicolor, 1. 

 cardinalis, 7, 9. 

 Cavanittesii, 13. 

 compacta, la. 

 erecta, la. 

 Erinus, 1. 

 Feuillei, 14. 

 flore-pleno, Ic. 

 formosa, 9. 

 fulgens, 9. 

 Gerardii, 11. 

 glandulosa, 6. 



INDEX. 



Goldelse, 16. 

 Golden Queen, 16. 

 gracilis, 1, la, 2. 

 grandiflora, Ic. 

 hamburgia, Ic. 

 heterophylla, 1, 3, 4. 

 hybrida 10. 

 Kalmii, 5. 

 kermesina, Ic. 

 laxiflora, 13. 

 Lindleyana, Ic. 

 lugdunensis, 11. 

 marmorata, Ic. 

 muttiflora, Ic. 

 Nanseniana, 9. 



Fartoniana, Ic. 

 perennis, 10. 

 pumila, la. 

 Queen Victoria, ! 

 ramosa, 4. 

 Richardsonii, Ic. 

 Rivoirei, 12. 

 speeiosa, Ic. 

 splendens, 8. 

 eyphilitica, 6. 

 tenuior, 4. 

 texensis, 8. 

 tricolor, Ic. 

 trigonocauliti, 2. 

 Tupa, 14. 



A. Plant annual (or so treated), low and diffuse-growing. 



B. Beards or hairy tufts on only the 2 lower anthers. 



1.. Erinus, Linn. (L. heterophylla, Hort., sometimes, 

 not Labill. L. gracilis, Hort., not Andr. L. bicolor, 

 Sims). Figs. 2187, 2188. Diffuse and half-trailing 

 annual or perennial, much used for edgings: glabrous or 

 slightly hairy below, 6-12 in. high: Ivs. variable, the 

 lower ones obtuse and obovate or 

 spatulate and crenate- toothed, the 

 upper ones oblanceolate or oblong 

 (becoming linear and acute near the 

 top of the st.), and mostly sharp- 

 angle-toothed: fls. }/-%in. across, 

 on slender pedicels, light blue or 

 violet with a lighter center (throat 

 white or yellowish); calyx -lobes 

 awl-like, spreading, as long as the 

 corolla-tube; 3 lower lobes of corolla 

 large and spreading. S. Afr. "Stony 

 places in flats and on mountains." 

 B.M. 514; 901. One of the common- 

 est of all annual edging plants, particularly for early sea- 

 son effects. In our hot climate, it often ceases blooming 

 in midsummer, but with good soil, plenty of water, and 

 occasional cutting back, it will bloom till frost. Seeds 

 sown in Jan. and Feb., will give blooming plants by 

 April and May. For fls. alone, rather than for edgings, 

 the seeds may be started later, or even sown in the 

 open ground. For definite results in edgings, however, 

 it is usually better to start from cuttings. In the fall, 

 lift the best plants, and grow them in pots through the 



2188. Lobelia Erinus. 



(Natural size) 



winter as stocks from which to secure cuttings. Cut- 

 tings taken in late Jan. or Feb., should give blooming 

 plants by May. Seedlings vary, and one cannot rely 

 on them for definite effects in design work, although 

 they may be best for the amateur who desires only fls. 

 Some strains of seeds, however, come very true. 



2189. Lobelia tenuior. (X X- 



The species is also a good pot-plant for the winter 

 conservatory. 



Lobelia Erinus is exceedingly variable. The forms 

 fall into three groups: 



(a) Variation in habit: Var. compacta or erecta, 

 dense-growing forms suitable for low, close edgings: 

 subvarieties are blue, white and so on. The most popu- 

 lar bedding forms belong to this strain. The name 

 erecta is often used for the taller strains. Var. gracilis, 

 with slender growth and suitable for vases or baskets: 

 blue. Var. pumila. Very dwarf. 



(6) Variation in color of foliage: GOLDEN QUEEN and 

 GOLDELSE, with yellowish foliage. Also forms with 

 bronzy foliage, but not constant. 



(c) Variation in color and size of fls.: Var. alba. 

 White. Var. flore-pleno. Double. R.H. 1875:71. Var. 

 grandifldra. Various large-fld. forms. Var. kermesina. 

 Crimson. Var. Lindleyana. Rose-color, with white 

 eye. Var. marmorata. Fls. marbled. Var. Paxtoniana. 

 Light blue with white eye: growth straggling. Var. 

 Royal Purple. Purple-blue. Var. specidsa. Large-fld., 

 light azure-blue, with white eye. Var. tricolor. Fls. 

 blue or pink, with white eye and carmine spots. Var. 

 hamburgia, Hort., has fls. bright blue with white eye; 

 growth very rapid, slender, making it a handsome pot 

 or basket plant. Var. Richardsonii, Hort. (L. Richard- 

 sonii, Hort.), has long spreading or drooping sts. : Ivs. 

 cordate and crisped: fls. light blue, in a long terminal 

 raceme. L. multiflora of lists presumably belongs in 

 this species: soft rich pink. 



