BLUE LOBELIA 



BLUE LOBELIA. GREAT LOBELIA 



Lobelia syphilitica 



Perennial. Native. In moist soil. Maine and On- 

 tario to South Dakota, south to the Gulf. July-October. 



^^ew.— Erect, angular, leafy, rather stout, usually sim- 

 ple, sometimes branching, one to four feet high. 



Leaves. — Ovate, lanceolate, sessile or the lower petioled, 

 narrowed at base, acute or acuminate at apex, unequally 

 serrate. 



Flowers. — Borne in a long, dense, leafy spike which is 

 six to eighteen inches in length, bright blue marked with 

 white. 



Calyx. — Hairy, tubular, five-cleft, lobes eared at base, 

 reflexed. 



Corolla. — Tubular, irregular, cleft nearly to the base 

 on the upper side, two-lipped; the upper lip cleft between 

 the lobes; lower lip three-lobed. 



Ovary. — Two-celled; style one; stigma two-lobed, 

 fringed. 



Fruit. — Capsule, opening at the summit; many-seeded. 



The Lobelia family gives two of the most brilliant 

 flowers of our summer fields, the glowing red of the 

 Cardinal Flower and the clear, brilliant blue of the 

 Great Lobelia. Both prefer moist homes. The Cardinal 

 is the earlier, it glows under the midsummer sun; 

 the Great Blue shows its color in August and lingers 

 until October and frost. This Lobelia blue is one of 

 the clearest given by petals, it is the blue of porcelain, 

 intense and brilliant upon its color-chord, sometimes 

 fading to white but not losing its purity. 



A single well-grown individual from the flower- 

 spike offers an interesting study. From the base of the 



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