Lobelia Kalmii. 123 



Root small, fibrous, perennial. Stem slender, slightly scabrous, 

 flexuous, and somewhat secund ; generally simple, but sometimes 

 branched. Radical leaves as in the type of the variety ; spathulate 

 coloured with a slight tinge of dull purple. Stem leaves distant, 

 few, sessile, oblong-linear, about an inch or an inch and a quarter 

 in length, with a few obscure teeth about the middle. Flowers 

 small, pale campanula-purple, situated on peduncles of deep indigo- 

 blue, about a quarter of an inch long, having two minute, and to the 

 naked eye, almost imperceptible glandular-like bracts, or scales, at 

 the base. Grows on the margins of damp woods, on the edges of 

 sandy swamps from New Jersey to Carolina. 



The genus Lobelia, (of which the Scscvola of Linnseus was the 

 original type,) was dedicated by father Plumierto Mathias de Lobel, 

 or de L'Obel. Among the species peculiar to North America, the 

 present one, of which we here present a variety, is the most varia- 

 ble. I have specimens of the L. Kalmii sent me by Dr. John Tor- 

 rey, of New York, which differ considerably from each other, and 

 still more from the present plant They are certainly, however, in 

 my opinion, not specifically distinct from the plant here figured, 

 which is a delicate variety; but was considered by Muhlenberg to 

 be the same. On consulting the Herbarium of that botanist, I have 

 found many specimens of the present plant, like the one figured : 

 others slightly deviatingfrom its strikingcharacters, and approaching 

 to the Kalmii; and of the Kalmii itself there are several specimens 



