Volume 8 — PLATE DII.

LOBELIA SURINAMENSIS; Var. flore rubro.

Surinam Lobelia; Red-flowered Variety.

CLASS V. ORDER I.

PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. Five Chives. One Pointal.

ESSENTIAL GENERIC CHARACTER.

Calyx 5-fidus. Corolla 1-petala, 5-fida, irregularis. Antheræ cohærentes. Capsula infera, 2-seu 3-locularis.

Empalement 5-cleft. Blossom 1 petal, irregular, 5-cleft. Chives adhering together. Capsule beneath, 2, sometimes 3 loculaments.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Lobelia caule suffruticoso: foliis oblongis, glabris, serratis: floribus axillaribus, pedunculatis: corollis læte rubris, pentagonis, curvatis, tubulosis, supra basin impressis.

Habitat in Surinamo.

Lobelia with a shrubby stem: leaves oblong, smooth, and sawed: flowers axillary, pedunculated: blossoms of a bright red colour, five-sided, curved, and tubular, indented just above the base.

Native of Surinam.

REFERENCE TO THE PLATE.

A fine living specimen of this elegant variety of the Lobelia Surinamensis was communicated to the author by A. B. Lambert, esq., who received it amongst a large collection of hot-house plants presented to him by Lord Seaforth, and collected by that nobleman in the West Indies whilst Governor of the Island of Barbadoes. The plant from which this figure was delineated was near four feet high, with numerous branches terminated by buds and flowers, whose brilliance enlivening the gloomy month of November, may justly rank it as one of the greatest ornaments of the hot-stove.