422 LOBELIACE^. Lobelia. 



Group 3. Ovary coherent with the calyx, 2 - 1-celled (rarely one-celled), with 

 numerous ovules. Seeds albuminous. Stamens inserted with the corolla upon 

 an epigynous disk : anthers not opening by pores. 



Order LVI. LOBELIACEiE. Juss. The Lobelia Tribe. 



Calyx 5-lobed or 5-toothed. Corolla irregularly 5-lobed and mostly 2-lipped, 

 cleft on one side nearly to the base. Stamens 5 ; the upper part of the 

 filaments, and the anther, cohering into a tube. Stigma surrounded with a 

 cup-like fringe. Fruit capsular, 2-3- (rarely 1-) celled, many-seeded. — 

 Herbaceous or somewhat shrubby plants, often yielding a milky juice. Leaves 

 alternate, without stipules, often toothed. Flowers usually showy, axillary or 

 in terminal racemes. — Many of the plants of this order are highly active and 

 deleterious. 



1. LOBELIA. Linn.; Endl. gen. 3058. lobelia. 



[ In honor of Matthias de Lobel, a Flemish botanist, who died in 1616.] 



Calyx 5-lobed ; the tube obconical or hemispherical. Corolla cleft on the upper side, 2-hpped ; 

 the tube cylindrical or funnel-form, straight ; upper lip often smaller and erect ; the lower 

 3-cleft. The two inferior anthers (rarely all) bearded at the summit. Capsule 2-celled ; 

 the upper part sometimes free from the calyx, opening at the summit. — Mostly herbs ; 

 flowers often in bracteate racemose spikes. 



1. Lobelia Kalmii, Linn. Kalm's Lobelia. 



Plant smooth; stem usually branched; leaves remotely denticulate, the cauline linear, 

 radical ones oblong-spatulale ; raceme loose, few-flowered, wilii leaf-like narrowly linear 

 bracts ; pedicels longer than the fruit, willi two minute bracteoles near the flower; tube of 

 the calyx obovate, acute at the base. — Linn. sp. 2. p. 929 ; Michx. fl. 2. p. 153 ; Pursh, 

 fi. 2. p. 446 ; Nutt. gen. 2. p. 76 ; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 86 ; Torr. fl.\. p. 239 ; Bot. mag. 

 t. 2238 ; Hook. fi. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 30 ; Beck, bot. p. 214 ; DC. prodr. 7. p. 374. 



Biennial. Stem 8-12 inches or more high, slender, erect or assurgent. Leaves 1-2 

 inches long and 1 - IJ hne wide, with a few minute repand teeth. Pedicels 6-12 lines 

 long, slender. Calyx smooth ; the segments lanceolate, and longer than the tube. Corolla 

 about half an inch long, of a rather pale but clear blue ; the segments of the lower lip ovate, 

 acute. Capsule adhering to the tube of the calyx. 



On wet rocks ; not uncommon in the northern and western parts of the State. A very neat 

 and delicate species. FL July - August. 



