Imagens da página
PDF
ePub
[ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[graphic]

Lobeliacea.

LOBELIA SYPHILITICA.

Class V. PENTANDRIA.

BLUE LOBELIA.

Order I. MONOGYNIA.

Gen. Char. Calyx five-cleft. Corolla one-petalled, irregular. Capsules inferior, two or three-celled.

Spe. Char. Stem erect, rather hairy. Leaves ovate, lanceolate, subserate. Sinuses of the calyx reflex.

The root is perennial, and furnished with innumerable small white fibres; the stem is upright, strong, simple, smooth, and rises from two to three feet in height; the leaves growing near the top of the stem are oval and pointed, those at the bottom rather elliptical, and obtusely lance-shaped; they are both minutely serrated, veined, smooth, and without footstalks; the flowers are numerous, large, blue, and grow upon a long spike, on short peduncles; the corolla consists of a long tube, which is nearly cylindrical, and divided at the limb into five pointed oval segments, of a rich blue color; the calyx is composed of five halbert-shaped leaves, fringed at the margin, and reflected at each side; the filaments, are five, tapering, equal in length to the tube of the corolla, and closely connected at the top by the anthers; the germen is short and conical; the style is about the length of the stamens, which terminates with a blunt, hairy stigma; the capsule is oval, and divided into two cells, which contain many small seeds.

Lobelia, of which there are at least fifty different species, was first introduced to botanical notice by M. Lobel, physician and botanist to James I., of England, from whom the plant derived its name.

There are ten of these species common to our New England States, and among them one of the most beautiful, generally known as the Cardinal Flower, Lobelia Cardinalis. This superb plant, according to Mr. Aiton, was first cultivated in England by the celebrated botanist, Mr. Ray, and it has now become a general and favorite ornament in the gardens of that country, where much care is bestowed upon its culture, while in its native soil it is quite common and flourishes in all its beauty on the banks of our brooks and ponds. The Lobelia Syphilitica, which is represented in the plate, is also one of the species that are natives of this country; and although it cannot vie with its cardinal brother in grandeur and magnificence, it far surpasses it in usefulness and beneficial properties, being one of the most valuable appendages to our botanical materia medica. Its medicinal virtues were long known and applied by the North American Indians, before the more scientific professors of our schools discovered its valuable properties, and indeed much controversy and diversity of opinion has existed among modern practitioners upon the subject. Volumes have been written in support of its efficient and beneficial qualities ir its application and use, and many in endeavoring to prove the almost certain and fatal consequences of administering it under any circumstances of sickness and disease.

Medical Properties and Uses. All the various species possess more or less highly valuable medicinal properties; of the Lobelia Syphilitica, the root is the part most used as a medicine; it possesses emetic, cathartic, expectorant, sudorific, and diuretic properties; when given as the former it operates powerfully and speedily, producing, however, great relaxation, debility, and perspiration, and therefore should be administered with great caution and care, and only by those who are well acquainted with its medicinal effects. The Lobelia Longiflora is a native of some of the West India islands; when taken internally it acts as a violent cathartic. Several of the species are introduced into medical practice, some of which we shall give a more particular description of hereafter.

« AnteriorContinuar »