LOBELIA, L., the typical genus of the tribe Lobelieae, of the order Campanulaceae, named after Matthias de Lobel, a native of Lille, botanist and physician to James I. It numbers about two hundred species, natives of nearly all the temperate and warmer regions of the world, excepting central and eastern Europe as well as western Asia. For the sections into which the genus is divided, see Genera Plantarum, by Bentham and Hooker, vol. ii. p. 551; and for species, De C., Prod., vii. p. 357. Two species are British, L. Dortmanna, L., named after Dortmann, a Dutch druggist, which occurs in gravelly mountain lakes; and L. urens, L., which is only found on heaths, àc., near Axminster (see Baxter’s Brit. Gen,, No. 79). The genus is distinguished from Campanula by the irregular corolla and completely united anthers, and by the excessive acridity of the milky juice. The species earliest described and figured appears to be L. cardinalis, L., under the name Trachelium americanum sive cardinalis planta, “the rich crimson cardinal’s flower”,· Parkinson {Paradisus, 1629, p. 356) says, “it groweth neere the riuer of Canada, where the French plantation in America is seated”; De Candolle records it from New England to Carolina {Prod., vii. 382). This species, as well as several others, are in cultivation as ornamental garden plants, e.g., the dwarf blue E. Ervnus, L, from the Cape, which, with its varieties, forms a familiar Bedding plant. L. splendens, Willd., and L. folgens, Willd., growing from 2 to 4 feet high, from Mexico, have scarlet flowers; while L. amoena, Mich., from North America, as well as L. syphilitica, L., and its hybrids, from Virginia, have blue flowers. The last-named was introduced in 1665, according to Paxton {Bot. Diet., p. 340), but is not mentioned ...