MAY. 69 



these are the handsomest of the tribe to be 

 foiftid in our gardens. 



Almost all the lobelias are natives of tropical 

 climates, many of them being the wild flowers 

 of the "West Indian islands. Several of them 

 have been brought from the Cape of Good 

 Hope, and others grow in the warmer regions 

 of South America. A few of their number 

 require to be kept in the greenhouse. 



A milky fluid, in greater or less quantity, 

 exists in every individual of this species of 

 plant, and it is of so acrid a quality that the 

 whole tribe may be considered as of a danger- 

 ous nature. One species, {Lobelia tiipa,) a 

 native of Chile, yields a virulent poison; and 

 one of the most powerful medicines used in 

 North America, is the juice of the inflated 

 lobelia, which, unless given only in small doses, 

 proves fatal'. So deleterious is the beautiful 

 white lobelia, (Lobelia longifiora,) that when 

 taken internally it causes death ; while if the 

 hand which has touched it, be miguardedly 

 placed on the eye, it produces a violent inflam- 

 mation. This flower grows wild on moist 

 places, and by stream sides in the West Indies. 

 Like the common reed of our native land, 

 (Arundo phragynitis^) its presence is, most 

 probably, indicative of an unhealthy atmo- 

 sphere, as the moist spots in the West Indies 

 are always unfavourable to health. It adds 

 much, however, to the beauty of the lands 

 where it flourishes, and delights the lover of 

 flowers by its beauty, but it also renders the 

 pasture very dangerous to horses, which are 



