LOBELIA. LXXVI. LOBELIACE^E. 363 



perfected seeds and seed-down, the airy, globular form of which is very con- 

 spicuous among the tall grass. The leaves in spring furnish an excellent pot- 

 herb. April Nov. 



83. SONCHUS. 



Gr. ffoptyos, hollow or soft ; in allusion to the tender, feeble stem. 



Involucre imbricate, of numerous unequal scales, at length tumid 

 at the base ; receptacle naked ; pappus of simple, copious, white-silky 

 hairs in many series ; achenia not rostrate. Lvs. mostly spinulosc. 

 Heads with many yellow flowers. 



1. S. OLERACECS. Common Smo Thistle. Lvs. sagittate-amplexicaul, runci- 

 nate, subspinulose, dentate ; ped. downy ; invol. at length smooth. (I) A sordid 

 looking plant, native of Europe, naturalized in waste grounds, among rubbish, 

 &c. The whole plant has a glaucous hue. Stem angular, hollow, fragile, 

 2 3f in height. Leaves apparently clasping, with large, retreating lobes at 

 base, wavy and serrated in a runcinate manner, the teeth ending in weak spines. 

 Involucres dilated at base, with yellow corollas. Sept. 



2. S. ASPER. Vill. (S. spinulosus. Bw.) Rough Sow Thistle. 



St. glandular-hispia above; Ivs. cordate-amplexical, oblong-lanceolate, 

 undulate, spinulose, dentate; ped. subumbellate. Found in similar situations 

 with the former, but less common, U. S. Stem 1 2f high, smooth except at 

 the summits of the branches, where it is covered with stiff hairs, each support- 

 ing a little gland at top. Leaves with numerous short, spiny teeth, wavy or 

 slightly runcinate, the upper ones clasping so as to appear perfoliate. Scales 

 with few, scattered hairs. Aug. Sept. 



3. S. ARVENSIS. Corn Smo Thistle. 



Rt. creeping, perennial; st. glabrous, erect; Ivs. runcinate-pinnatifid, 

 spinulose-dentate, cordate-clasping at base, with short and obtuse auricles; 

 panicle umbellate-corymbose; ped. and. invol. hispid; och. somewhat 4-angled, 

 the ribs transversely rugulose. %. Waste grounds, naturalized, Eastern Mass, 

 and Southern N. Y., rare. Stem angular, about 2f high. Heads large, with 

 deep yellow flowers. 



ORDER, LXXVI. LOBELIACE^. LOBELIADS. 



Herbs or shrubs with a milky juice. Lvs. alternate, without stipules. 



F/. axillary and terminal. 



Col. superior, the limb 5-lobed or entire. 



Cor. Limb irregular, 5-lobed, the tube inserted into the calyx. 



Sta. 5, inserted with the corolla and alternate with its lobes. 



Anth. coherent into a tube. Pollen oval. 



Ova. adherent to the calyx tube. Style simple. Stig. surrounded with a fringe. 



Fr. a capsule, 2 or 3-(rarely Hcelled, many-seeded. 



Most abundant in countries near the tropics, as W. Indies, Brazil and the Sandwich Islands, but they 

 are found also throughout the temperate zones. 



Properties. Aft the species are poisonous, being pervaded by an acrid, narcotic juice. The common 

 Indian tobacco (Lobelia iriflata) is an exceedingly active medicine, emetic, sudorific and expectorant It 

 should be used, however, with great caution, since " less than a teaspoonful of the seeds or the powdered 

 leaves would destroy life in a lew hours." Dr. Gray. The other species produce similar effects, but in a 

 lesj degree. 



Genera. 



Corolla tube cleft on the upper side to near the base, limb subbilabiate. . . . Lobelia. 1 

 Corolla tube short, entire, limb bilabiate Clintanla. 2 



1. LOBELIA. 



In honor of Matthias de Lobel, physician and botanist to James I. Died 1 6! 8. 



Corolla tubular, irregular, cleft nearly to the base on the upper 

 side ; stamens with the anthers united" above into a curved tube ; 

 stigma 2-lobed ; capsule opening at the summit ; seeds minute. Her- 

 baceous plants, with thejls. axillary and solitary ', or in terminal, br acted 

 racemes. 



1. L. CARDINALIS. Cardinal FUnoer. 



SI. erect, simple, Ivs. ovate-lanceolate, finely serrate, acute or acuminate, 

 3 1 



