26 



if allowed to become damp will turn black. The corolla (petals), with 

 the adhering- stamens only, is dried, the calyx being rejected. Mullein 



flowers have a sweetish, pleasant odor. 



Mullein is used in coughs and ca- 

 tarrh, to quiet nervous irritation, and 

 to relieve pain and inflammation. 

 According to some authors the dried 

 leaves are often smoked like tobacco 

 to relieve nasal catarrh and throat 

 affections. 



Imports and prices. — xlbout 5,000 

 pounds of verbascum or mullein flow- 

 ers are annually imported, chiefly 

 from Germany, in which country this 

 plant is cultivated. The leaves are 

 also imported to a small extent. 



The price paid for the leaves ranges 

 from 2^ to 5 cents per pound, and 

 that for the flowers may range from 

 25 to 75 cents per pound. 



LOBELIA. 



Lobelia inflate L. . 



Other common names. — Indian to- 

 bacco, wild tobacco, bladder pod, asth- 

 ma weed, gagroot, pukeweed, vomit- 

 wort, low belia, eyebright. (Fig. 15.) 



Range and habitat. — This poison- 

 ous weed occurs nearly eveiywhere 

 throughout the United States, being 

 most plentiful east of the Mississippi 

 River, and thriving in dry, clayey, 

 or siliceous soil in sunny situations 

 along roadsides, and in old fields and 

 pastures. 



Description. — The erect leafy stem 

 of this annual herbaceous plant is 

 from 1 to 3 feet high, from a fibrous 

 root. It is simple and rough-hairy 

 below, smooth above, and bears aiew 

 short branches. The entire plant con- 

 tains an acrid milky juice. It belongs 

 to the bellflowt'i' family (Campaniilaceae). 



The pale-green leaves are alternate, from 1 to 2£ inches long, grad- 



1SS 



Fig. 15.— Lobelia i Lobelia inrlala L. i. 



