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LOBELIA HETEROPHYLLA. 
(various-leaved lobelia.) 
class. order. 
PENTANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 
NATURAL ORDER. 
LOBELIACE^l. 
Generic Character. — Vide vol. ii. p. 52. 
Specific Character. — Plant annual, smooth. Stems angular, nearly simple. Leaves thick ; inferior 
ones pinnatifid, toothed, upper ones linear, entire. Corolla with the lower lip jagged in the middle, 
obcordate ; lateral lobes unequal ; bright blue. 
Were it possible for any coloured figure to do justice to the exquisite beauty 
and richness of the flowers of this deeply- interesting little plant, we are convinced 
that those of our subscribers who have not yetseenit in a growing state, would entertain 
towards it the same attachment which we now profess. There is certainly a gracility 
in the stems, and an extraordinary diffusiveness of habit, which, when delineated 
on paper, have a tendency to depreciate its merit ; but these are chiefly produced 
by a particular course of culture, and if viewed as characteristic of the living 
plant, so far from diminishing, actually increase its charms. 
The discovery and colonization of Australia has, among other and greater 
benefits conferred upon the mother country, enriched our gardens with an immense 
number of almost invaluable plants, so excellently adapted are they to the mode of 
management which we practise in our greenhouses. Nor are our flower-borders 
lacking in ornaments from the same region, as the many delightful annuals recently 
procured from the Swan River Colony sufficiently prove. Lobelia heterophylla is, 
however, a product of Van Diemen's land ; and were there no other annual to testify 
of its fertility in the generation of floral gems, this alone would be sufficient to 
compel us to regard it with honour. 
Seeds appear to have been received in this country about the year 1835, as it 
blossomed in several collections at different periods of 1836. Mr. William Shenton, 
of Winchester, and Mr. Veitch, of Exeter, were among the first individuals with 
