480 



LOBELIA( K\K. 



teeth. Corolla epigynous, bilabiate, 2 lobes in the upper lip and 3 in 

 the lower. Stamens 5, inserted with the corolla, but generally free 

 from it and alternate with its lobes; anthers and filaments usually 

 united into a tube about the style. Ovary 2-celled; style 1; stigma 

 capitate and girt with a rim of hairs. Juice mostly milky and acrid. 

 Fruit in ours a many-seeded 1 or 2-celled capsule. 



stems erect or ascending; corolla conspicuously bilabiate; capsule com- 

 monly 1 to 2 in. long 1. Bolelia. 



stems procumbent; corolla-segments only slightly unequal; capsule % in. 

 long 2. Howellia. 



1. BOLELIA Raf. 



Dwarf herbs of low plains, margins of vernal pools, sometimes in 

 the mountains or in saline marshes. Calyx-tube (adnate to the ovary) 

 very long and stalk-like. Corolla with a short tube and ample bila- 

 biate limb; lips spreading, the larger 3-lohed, the smaller 2-cleft with 

 narrow divisions. Anther-tube incurved, one or two of the anthers 

 tipped with a bristle-like point. Ovary 2-celled, becoming a 1 -celled 

 capsule with 2 parietal filiform placentae. Capsule long and linear, 

 crowned with the persistent calyx-lobes, dehiscent below the apex by 

 1 to 3 long fissures. (Anagram of Lobelia.) 



The chief character used in the discrimination of species in this 

 genus is that of color, but it is to be said that extended field investi- 

 gations on the part of the author show this character to be exceed- 

 ingly variable. It is, therefore, doubtful if most of the species here 

 listed are more than color forms. B. elegans is, however, by the 

 structure of its corolla, quite distinct from all the other species, which 

 form a separate group of which B. pulchella is taken as the natural 

 type. Typical B. pulchella as here closely circumscribed, has a very 

 bright and characteristic corolla, which when once seen is readily 

 recognized a second time. This "species has two diverging lines of 

 variation, one reaching towards B. concolor with disappearance of 

 yellow in the corolla; the other extending to B. ornatissima through 

 B. bicornuta (not within our limits) and ending in B. humilis. 



Anther-tube much incurved, nearly hook-shaped 1. B. elegans. 



Anther-tube straight or only slightly curved. 

 Corolla conspicuously bilabiate. 



Lower lip with a central maroon spot 2. B. concolor. 



Lower lip with a central yellow spot. 



Tube shorter than calyx-lobes . 3. B. pulchella. 



Tube much longer than calyx-lobes 4. B. cuspidata. 



Corolla small and pale 5. B. ornatissima. 



Corolla obscurely bilabiate, the lobes similar 6. B. humilis. 



1. B. elegans (Lindl.) Greene. Commonly simple, 4 to 7 in. 

 high; leaves oblong to oblong-lanceolate, \ in. long; corolla-tube 

 campanulate; the upper lip cut jf the way down, the segments 

 ascending and parallel; lower lip 3-lobed at apex, the lobes and 

 lateral parts of the body sky-blue marked with darker veinlets, main 

 portion white and bearing 2 oblong parallel green or greenish yellow 

 spots; side of throat next to lower lip frequently with purple spots 

 and yellow lines; stamen-column long-exserted, about equaling the 

 upper segments. — (Downingia elegans Torr. B. insignis Greene.) 



