68 
THE LADIES’ FLOWER-GARDEN 
GENUS II. 
TUPA, D. Don. THE TUPA. 
Lin. Syst. PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. — Calyx turbinate, five-toothed. Tube of the 
corolla longitudinally cleft on the upper side ; limb five-parted, secund. 
Stamens monadelpbous. Anthers cohering, the latter two fringed at 
the apex. Stigma two-lobed, bearded behind. Capsule half enclosed 
in the calyx, two-celled, many-seeded, opening at the apex. Seeds 
elliptic, concave, smooth. 
Description, &c. — The species forming this genus were all formerly included in the genus Lobelia, but 
they are easily distinguished by their flowers having only one lip, and the tube of the corolla being cleft down to 
the base on the upper side. The difference will be easily perceived by comparing Lobelia syphilatica, in PI. 66 , 
with the other species figured in the same plate, which, though called on that plate by their old name of Lobelia, 
all belong to the modern genus, Tupa. All the species of this genus are natives of South America, and Tupa is 
their aboriginal name in that country. 
1._TUPA FEUILLEI, Dec. THE COMMON TUPA. 
Synonymes. — Lobelia Tupa, Lin. ; Rapuntium spicatum, Feuil. ; , Specific Character. — Stem erect, five-aiigled. Leaves oblong, 
the Tupa poison plant ; the Mullein-leaved Lobelia. j acutely denticulate, under-surface covered with a tomentose pubescence. 
Engravings Bot. Mag. t. 2550 ; Bot. Reg. t. 1612 ; Sweet’s | penninerved ; reticulately-veined, sessile, decurrent. Terminal raceme 
Brit. Flow. Gard. 284 ; and onr 1, in PI. 66. 1 elongated; bracts nearly equal to the pedicels. Flowers pubescent. 
Description, &c. — T his may be called a stately plant, from its tall, erect stem, and candelabra-like flowers. 
The stem is frequently above eight feet high, generally hollow, and five-angled. The terminal raceme of 
flowers is frequently two feet long. This plant was first discovered by Father Feuillei, who visited the west 
coast of South America between the years 1707 and 1712; and who, according to the quotation from his work, 
given in the Botanical Register, speaks of this plant in the following terms : — “ All this plant is a most ready 
poison ; its root yieldeth a deadly milk, as also doth its stem ; the odour of its flowers produceth cruel sickness. 
When one handleth them, care must be had not to bruise them between the fingers ; for if one thereafter rubbeth 
his eyes, some of the milk having touched them, a man will surely lose his sight.” Though this account is 
exaggerated, like many of the descriptions of plants by the early writers on these subjects, there is no doubt that 
the milk of this kind of Tupa is more poisonous than that of any of the other species of the genus. The common 
Tupa is a native of Chili, whence it was introduced in 1824. It is tolerably hardy in British gardens, and will 
generally live through the winter without any protection, if it be kept dry. Tupa is the original name of this 
piant in Chili, and hence the other species are generally called by the same name throughout South America. 
2.— TUPA SALICIFOLIA, Dec. THE WILLOW-LEAVED TUPA. 
Synonymes. — Lobelia Tupa, Ait.; Lobelia gigantea, Sims; tbe Specific Character. — Stems sutfruticose. Leaves lanceolate, sessile, 
willow-leaved Lobelia ; the gigantic Lobelia. serrulated. Flowers axillary, solitary, shorter than the leaves. 
Engraving. — Bot. Mag. t. 1325. 
Description, &c. — This is a gigantic species, growing fourteen or sixteen feet high, and much branched. 
The flowers are first yellow, and then become orange, turning red as they fade. This species, which was intro- 
duced in 1794 from Chili, was long supposed to be the Lobelia Tupa of Linnaeus, and the poison plant of Father 
Feuillei ; but Linnaeus expressly mentions that his Lobelia Tupa had a five-angled, hollow stem, whereas the 
stem of this species is cylindrical and solid. The flowers also are orange instead of red. The species, though a 
