242 LOBELiACE^. (lobelia family.) 



top. Pod 2-celled, many-seeded, opening at the top. — Flowers axillary or 

 chiefly in bracted racemes. (Dedicated to Lobel, an eai'Iy Flemish herbalist.) 

 # Flowers deep red, large : stem simple. 



1. Ii. cardinalis, L. (CABDmAL-PLO-WEB.) Tall (2°-4° high), 

 smoothish ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, slightly toothed ; raceme elongated, rather 

 1-sided; the pedicels much shorter than the leaf-like bracts. — Low grounds; 

 common. July-Oct. — Perennial by offsets, with largo and very showy in- 

 tensely red flowers, — rarely varying to rose-color! (Plymouth, Mr. Gilbeil), 

 or even to white ! 



* # Flowers blue, or blue variegated with white. 

 'r- Stems leafy to the top, simple (l°-3° high) : leaves oblong or ovate-lanceolate: 

 sinuses of the calyx with coTispicuous defUxed auricles : flowers crowded in u long 

 spike or dense raceme. 



2. !<• syphilitica, L. (Gbeat Lobelia.) Somewhat hairy ; leaves thin, 

 acute at both ends (2'-6' long), in'egularly seiTate; flowers (nearly 1' long) ptdi- 

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

 the corolla, the short tube hemispherical. H. — Low grounds; common. Aug., 

 Sept. — Flowers light blue, rarely white. 



3. tj, pubemla, Michx. Finely soft-pubescent ; leaves thickisk, obtuse (!'- 

 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. IJ. — Moist grounds. 

 New Jersey to Ohio and southward. Aug. — Corolla bright blue, J' long. 



4. li« leptOStachySy A. DC. Smooth above; lea-ves obtuse, denticulate, 

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

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

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

 % — Sandy soil, Elinois and southward. July, Aug. — Corolla 3'' - 4" long. 

 ■*- -*- Stems leafy, mostly simple (l°-2^° high) : leaves lanceolate or oblong-lanceo- 

 late : calyx-tube hemispherical, the sinuses destitute of auricles : flowers pretty large 

 (§'— 1' long) and showy, in a loose nearly 1-sided raceme: anthers sometimes beard- 

 ed on the back. 



5. li. glanduldsa, Walt. Sparingly hairy or pubescent ; leaves, bracts, 

 and usually the lobes of the calyx strongly glandular-toothed ; calyx-tube densely 

 hispid, rarely sparsely so, or smoothish. H. — Moist places, Virginia and south- 

 ward. Aug., Sept. 



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

 and bracts scarcely glandalar-tootlied ; calyx-lobes entire and slender. Ij. — Shady 

 moist places, Virginia and southward. Sept. 



^- +- H- Stems leafy : calyx-tube ovoid or tapering to an acute base, no auricles or ap- 

 pendages at the sinuses: flowers small (i' -^' long), racemed. , 

 .^ Paniciilately much branched: racemes leafy : root annual oi' biennial. 



7. Ii. inflilta, L. (Indian Tobacco.) Somewhat pubescent (9'-18' 

 high) ; leaves oblong or ovate-lanceolate, toothed ; lobes of the calyx equalling 

 the corolla (2" -3" long), the tube and the inflated pod ovoid. — Dry open soil; 

 common. July - Sept. — A virulent poison and quack medicine. 



