lobeliacejE. (lobelia family.) 283 



* Flowers deep red, large : stem simple, 



1. L. cardinalis, L. (Cardinal-flower.) Tall (2°-4° high), smooth- 

 ish ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, slightly toothed ; raceme elongated, rather 1 -sided ; 

 the pedicels much shorter than the leaf-like bracts. — Low grounds: common. 

 — Perennial by offsets, with large and very showy intensely red flowers, — rarely 

 varying to rose-color! (Plymouth, Mr. Gilbert), or even to white ! 



* * Flowers blue, or blue variegated with white. 

 4- Stems leafy to the top, simple (l°-3° high) from a perennial root ; leaves oblong or 

 ovate-lanceolate: sinuses of the calyx ivith conspicuous dejiexed auricles: flowers 

 crowded in a long spike or dense raceme. 



2. L. syphilitica, L. (Great Lobelia.) Someichat hairy; leaves thin, 

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

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

 the corolla, the short tube hemispherical. — Low grounds: common. — Flowers 

 light blue, rarely white. 



3. L. puberula, Michx. Finely soft-pubescent; leaves thickish, obtuse (V - 

 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. — Moist grounds, New 

 Jersey to Illinois and southward. — Corolla bright blue, ^' long. 



4. L. leptostaehys, A. DC. Smooth above ; leaves obtuse, dentiadate, ob- 

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

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

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

 Sandy soil, Illinois and southward. — Corolla 3" - 4" long. 



■i- +- Stems leafy, mostly simple (1' -2^' high) from a perennial root : leaves lanceo- 

 late or oblong-lanceolate : calyx-tube hemispherical, the sinuses destitute of auricles: 

 flowers pretty large (§'-1' long) and showy, in a loose nearly 1-sided raceme: 

 anthers sometimes bearded on the back. 



5. L. glanduldsa, Walt. Sparingly pubescent : leaves, bracts, and usu- 

 ally the lobes of the calyx strongly glandular-toothed ; calyx-tube densely hispid, 

 rarely sparsely so, or smoothish. — Moist places, Virginia and southward. 



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

 bracts usually glandular-toothed; calyx-lobes entire and slender. — Shady moist 

 places, Virginia and southward. 



•*-•*--<- Stems leafy : calyx with no auricles or appendages at the sinuses : flowers 

 small i' -i' long, racemed : roots slender, annual or biennial, or perhaps some- 

 times perennial. 



*+ More or less pubescent, at least below : leaves oblong or ovate : stems angled or 

 striate : racemes spike-like : corolla pale blue. 



7. L. inflata, L. (Indian Tobacco.) Stems pankulately much branched 

 from an annual root, pubescent with spreading hairs (9'- 18' high) ; leaves 

 ovate or oblong, toothed, gradually diminishing into leaf-like hracts, which ex- 

 ceed the lower short-pedicelled flowers, calyx-tube ovoid, the pod inflated. — *Dry 

 open fields: common. — Corolla only 1^"- 2" long. Plant poisonous and a 

 noted quack medicine. 



