242 LOBELIACE^E. (LOBELIA FAMILY.) 



top. Pod 2-celled, many-seeded, opening at the top. Flowers axillary of 

 chiefly in bracted racemes. (Dedicated to Label, an early Flemish herbalist.) 

 # Flowers deep red, large : stem simple. 



1. Li. cardinajis, L. (CARDINAL-FLOWER.) Tall (2 -4 high), 

 smoothish ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, slightly toothed ; raceme elongated, rather 

 1 -sided; the pedicels much shorter than the leaf-like bracts. Low grounds; 

 common. July -Oct. Perennial by offsets, with large and very showy in- 

 tensely red flowers, rarely varying to rose-color! (Plymouth, Mr. Gilbert), 

 or even to white ! 



* * Flowers blue, or blue variegated with white. 



*- Stems leafy to the top, simple (l-3 high) : leaves oblong or ovate-lanceolate: 

 sinuses of the calyx with conspicuous deflexed auricles : Jlowers crowded in a long 

 spike or dense raceme. 



2. li. syptlilitica, L. (GREAT LOBELIA.) Somewhat hairy ; leaves thin, 

 acute at both ends (2' -6' long), irregularly serrate; flowers (nearly 1' long) pedi- 

 celled, longer than the leafy bracts ; calyx hirsute, the lobes half the length of 

 the corolla, the short tube hemispherical, y. Low grounds; common. Aug., 

 Sept. Flowers light blue, rarely white. 



3. L*. pnbemla, Michx. Finely soft-pubescent ; leaves thickish, obtuse (!'- 

 2' long), with small glandular teeth; spike rather 1-sided; calyx-lobes (and ovate 

 bracts) little shorter than the corolla, the hairy tube top-shaped, ty Moist grounds, 

 New Jersey to Ohio and southward. Aug. Corolla bright blue, ' long. 



4. l< leptopstacliys, A. DO. Smooth above; leaves obtuse, denticulate, 

 oblong-lanceolate, the upper gradually reduced to awl-shaped bracts ; raceme 

 spike-like, long and dense ; lobes of the calyx nearly equalling the corolla, the 

 auricles in the form of 10 awl-shaped appendages as long as the hemispherical tube. 

 U Sandy soil, Illinois and southward. July, Aug. Corolla 3" - 4" long. 

 - H- Stems leafy, mostly simpk (l-2 Ugh) : leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceo- 

 late: calyx-tube hemispherical, the sinuses destitute of auricles : Jlowers pretty large 

 ($'-!' long) and showy, in a loose nearly l-sided raceme: anthers sometimes beard- 

 ed on the back. 



5. !L. glandllldsa, Walt. Sparingly hairy or pubescent ; leaves, bracts, 

 and usually the lobes of the calyx strongly glandular-toothed; calyx-tube densely 

 hispid, rarely sparsely so, or smoothish. U Moist places, Virginia and south- 

 ward. Aug., Sept. 



6. Jit. amoena, Michx. Glabrous (rarely minutely pubescent) ; leaves 

 and bracts scarcely glandular-toothed ; calyx-lobes entire and slender. 1J. Shady 

 moist places, Virginia and southward. Sept. 



1 -H- *- Stems leafy : calyx-tube ovoid or tapering to an acute base, no auricles or ap- 

 pendages at the sinuses: Jlowers small (&'-%' long), racemed. 

 ** Paniculately much branched: racemes leafy : root annual or biennial. 



7. L.. inflata, L. (INDIAN TOBACCO.) Somewhat pubescent (9'-18' 

 high) ; leaves oblong or ovate-lanceolate, toothed ; lobes of the calyx equalling 

 the corolla (2" -3" long), the tube and the inflated pod ovoid. D*y open soil ; 

 common. July - Sept. A virulent poison and quack medicine. 



