11. Lobelia Inflata L. Indian Or Wild Tobacco. Eyebright

Fig. 4038. Lobelia Inflata L. Sp. Pl. 931. 1753

Annual, pubescent or hirsute, very acrid; stem leafy, commonly paniculately branched, 1°-3° high. Leaves thin, repand-dentate or denticulate, the lower oval or obovate, obtuse, 1'-21/2' long, narrowed into short petioles, the upper sessile, oval, oblong, ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, or the uppermost acute; flowers light blue, 2"-3" long, usually distant in somewhat spike-like racemes; lower bracts foliaceous, the upper subulate; pedicels 2"-5" long in fruit; calyx glabrous or nearly so, its subulate lobes about as long as the corolla; capsule inflated, 3"-4" long, finely transversely veined between the ribs.

In fields and thickets, usually in dry soil, Labrador to Saskatchewan, Georgia, Kansas and Arkansas. Gag-root. Puke-weed. Asthma-weed. Low-belia. Emetic-weed. Bladder-pod lobelia. July-Nov.

12. Lobelia Kalmii L. Brook Or Kalm's Lobelia

Fig. 4039

Lobelia Kalmii L. Sp. Pl. 930. 1753.

Perennial by short offsets, glabrous throughout, or sparingly pubescent below; stem leafy, erect, paniculately branched, rarely simple, slender, 6-20' high. Lower and basal leaves spatulate, obtuse, narrowed into short petioles, sparingly repand-denticulate, or entire, 6"-12" long, 1 1/2'-21/2 wide; upper leaves sessile, usually longer and narrower, linear, linear-oblong, or narrowly spatulate, the uppermost acute; flowers light blue, 4"-s" long, in loose racemes; lower bracts linear-lanceolate, the upper subulate; pedicels nearly filiform, 4"-12" long, usually 2-glandular or 2-bracteolate near the middle; calyx-lobes lanceolate-subulate, longer than the turbinate tube, the sinuses not appendaged; capsule wholly inferior, not inflated, campanulate or subglobose, about 2" long.

On wet banks, and in wet meadows, Nova Scotia to New Jersey, west to Ontario, Manitoba, Ohio, Michigan and Iowa. July-Sept.

13. Lobelia Nuttallii R. & S. Nuttall's Lobelia

Fig. 4040

Lobelia gracilis Nutt. Gen. 2: 77. 1818. Not Andr. Lobelia Nuttallii R. & S. Syst. 5: 39. 1819.

Annual, or perhaps biennial, glabrous throughout, or puberulent below; stem weak, usually reclining, very slender, loosely branched, at least when old, 1°-3° long. Basal leaves spatulate to oval, obtuse, mostly petioled, 6"-12" long, slightly repand, or entire; stem leaves distant, linear, linear-oblong, or slightly spatulate, longer and narrower, entire or sparingly glandular-denticulate; flowers 21/2"-4" long, pale blue, loosely racemose; bracts linear or the upper subulate; pedicels filiform, 2"-4" long, naked, or minutely 2-bracteolate near the base; calyx-lobes subulate, longer than the depressed-hemispheric strongly ribbed tube, the sinuses unappendaged; capsule depressed-globose, half-inferior, about 1" long.

In sandy soil, Long Island to Pennsylvania, Florida and Georgia. June-Sept.

14. Lobelia Canbyi A. Gray. Canby's Lobelia

Fig. 4041

Lobelia Canbyi A. Gray, Man. Ed. 5, 284. 1867.

Annual, slightly puberulent, usually glabrous; stem erect, slender, paniculately branched, or simple, 2°-3° high. Stem leaves linear or linear-oblong, 1/2'-11/2' long, 1/2"-1 1/2" wide, the lower obtuse, sometimes slightly repand-denticulate, the upper acute, narrower, entire; flowers racemose, blue, 4"-5i" long; lower bracts linear, the upper subulate; pedicels erect or ascending, naked, filiform, 1"-3 long; calyx-lobes linear-subulate, glandular-denticulate, equalling or somewhat longer than the narrowly turbinate tube, mostly shorter than the tube of the corolla; capsule oblong-turbinate, 2" long, shorter than the calyx-tube.

Swamps, New Jersey to South Carolina. July-Sept.