CARDINAL-FLOWER 



Stamens. — Five, united into a tube. 

 Ovary. — Two-celled; style long; stigma two-lobed. 

 ■ Capsule. — Many-seeded, opening at the summit. 



Lobelia erinus is the low, normally blue-flowered, annual 

 Lobelia, extensively used as an edging plant and as a reliable in- 

 mate of window-boxes and hanging-baskets. Its delicate foliage, 

 alert-looking blossoms, and easy culture make it a general favorite. 



It varies in habit from a diffuse, half-trailing stem overhanging 

 a box or window to dense upright plants suitable for close edging; 

 sometimes the foliage, always variable in form, becomes variable 

 in color, appearing both in yellow and in bronze. 



The blue of the normal blossoms frequently gives place to white, 

 and there are varieties both rose and crimson. In some forms the 

 size of the flower has considerably enlarged. 



CARDINAL-FLOWER 



Lobelia cardinalis. 



The most showy of our native Lobelias; found in wet or low grounds, 

 beside streams, ditches, and meadow runlets. Range extends from 

 New Brunswick to the Gulf States, west- 

 'ward to Kansas and the Northwest Terri- 

 tory. Biennial. July to September. 



Stem. — Erect, rarely branched, two to 

 four feet high. 



Leaves. — Oblong to lanceolate, slightly 

 toothed, acute at each end, sessile. 



Flowers. — With slenderer tube and more 

 deeply cleft lips than most lobelias; bril- 

 liant red, rarely rose or white, borne in 

 a long, leafy terminal, rather one-sided 



,„^„ ° Cardinal-Flower. LobUii 



raceme. ^ ,. ... 



Carmnatts 



Calyx. — Five-deft, with short tube. 



Corolla.— Vivid red; tube long, split down on apparently the upper 

 side, two-lipped; upper lip two-lobed; under lip three-cleft. 



Stamens.— Five, red, free from the corolla and united into' a tube; 

 anthers purple. 



Ovary. — Two-celled; style one. 



Capsule. — Many-seeded. 



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