162 



N. Ord. LOBELIACEJC. LindL, Veg. K., p. 692; Le Maout & 



Decaisne, p. 512. 

 Tribe Lobeliece. 



Genus Lobelia, Linn* Alph. DC. in DC. Prod., vii, pp. 357 

 391. Species 170 or more, natives, of the warmer regions 

 chiefly, of both hemispheres ; especially frequent in America 

 and at the Cape of Good Hope. 



162. Lobelia inflata, Linn., in Act. Upsal. 1741, p. 23. 



Indian Tobacco. 



Syn. Eapuntium inflatum, Mill. 



Figures. Barton, t. 16; Bigelow, t. 19; Nees, t. 206; Berg & Sch., 

 1. 1 a; Pereira, Mat. Med., p. 1546 (seed). 



Description. An erect annual or biennial herb, 1 2 feet high, 

 slightly branched above. Boots fibrous, stem round, striate, more 

 or less hairy. Leaves alternate ; lowest ones stalked, the others 

 sessile ; slightly decurrent, thin, light green, pilose on both surfaces, 

 1J 3 inches long, broadly or narrowly oval, denticulate or erose, 

 obtuse. Inflorescence branched below ; lower bracts large, leafy ; 

 flowers stalked, erect, small, in upright racemes ; pedicels shorter 

 than bracts. Calyx-tube united with ovary, marked with 10 veins, 

 and with a prominent ring below the teeth ; teeth 5, longer than 

 the tube, linear, tapering, acute, glabrous. Corolla tubular, split 

 down the centre above to the very base ; bilabiate, the upper lip 

 of two narrow, lanceolate, erect segments, the lower of three nearly 

 equal, spreading, triangular-ovate lobes with two short lines of 

 hairs within, pale violet-blue, the lower lip yellowish within. 

 Stamens 5, epigynous, not adherent to corolla ; both filaments and 

 anthers united into a tube surrounding the style. Ovary inferior, 

 ovoid, two-celled, with numerous ovules closely packed on large, 

 spongy, axile placentas ; style simple ; stigmas 2, with a tuft of hair 



* Named after Matthias de Lobel, " botanographer to King James I," and 

 author of some valuable works. He was a native of Lille, but lived much in 

 London, where he died in 1616. 



