APLANT so well known as the little blue lobelia may appear capable of telling its own story, but it is not so; and there is so much in the story that we must be business-like, and avoid sentiment and gossiping. It represents a pretty group of dwarf-growing, wiry-habited, free-flowering plants, the flowers of which are mostly of some shade of blue, but occasionally white, rosy purple, and pucy pink. They are all annuals or perennials, according to the treatment they receive and the kind of season they have passed through. In a hot dry summer they produce an abundance of seed, and become exhausted. In this case the old plants are likely to die during the winter, however much care may be taken of them. After a wet cool summer the old plants are likely to survive the winter, if potted and housed sufficiently early in the autumn.

In the cultivation of these dwarf lobelias, the saving of old plants is resorted to only for the purpose of supplying cuttings in spring, annual renewals of the plants being absolutely needful if a free growth and an abundant bloom be desired. A quick way of making stock is to tear the plants to pieces in the autumn, and pot the little rooted tufts in sandy soil and store them away in a greenhouse or pit. The section known as "pumila," consisting of very dwarf cushion-like plants, may be very well propagated by this method, but the more wiry ones, such as ramosa and elegans, are best grown from cuttings. They may all be most easily grown from seeds sown in pans in February or March, and afterwards pricked out to become strong in time for bedding, or the seed may be sown in April where the plants are to remain to flower, and if thinned in good time the plants will do very well, although, of course, they will flower somewhat late.

All the lobelias, including the grand "cardinalis" section, require a deep, rich, moist soil, and therefore, if the soil of the garden is dry and poor, plenty of leaf-mould, rotten turf, and old hotbed manure should be dug in where the lobelias are to be planted. None of them are quite hardy, but none of them are particularly tender, therefore moderate protection in a cool house or pit will in general suffice for their preservation during winter, but long-continued frosts will certainly prove fatal to them. As they are a thirsty lot, an overdose of water at any time will scarcely trouble them; and if, amongst the arrangements for bedding plants, any house or pit proves too damp for geraniums, it will probably happen that lobelias may be wintered there with perfect safety.

The genus was named by Linnaeus in honor of a remarkable man, who was one of the true founders of botanical science. Matthias de Lobel was born at Lisle in 1538, and was trained to the medical profession, under the physician Rondelet, in whose honour the fragrant rondeletia was named. Lobel, according to the good custom of his time, prepared himself for the business of life by travel, and in his wanderings he picked up a lot of knowledge about plants. He settled as a physician at Antwerp, but soon after went to Delft, where he was appointed physician to William Prince of Orange. Some time after this, but at what date no one can tell, he came to England, and published in London, in 1570, his "Novum Stirpium Adversaria," the object of which was to investigate the botany and materia medica of the ancients. Now it is of the utmost importance, in connection with the history of plants, to bear in mind that this work contains the germ, and a large and good germ, of the natural system. Lobel grouped the plants into tribes and families by their affinities, which is the essence of the natural system; and it is somewhat surprising that Linnaeus did not work on this basis instead of framing his own artificial system, which, with all its ingenuity, is comparatively valueless even as an aid to the memory, although it becomes useful in spite of its inherent weakness of principle when it happens to agree with the natural system in the case of such groups as the grasses and the composites.

Lobel was an industrious author and a consistent worker in the garden. Under the patronage of Lord Zouch he established a physic garden at Hackney, and in due time was appointed king's botanist by James I., but probably without a salary, and with but few official duties. In 1576 he published his "Observationes," wherein may be found the sources of much of the information embodied in Parkinson's "Theatrum Botanicum" and other works of the time that now surprise us by their erudition, their comprehensiveness, and the delightful accuracy of their engravings.

The lobelias are widely scattered, but there are not many of them. There are two British species, namely, L. urens, a very rare plant, found on heaths near Axminster, and L. Dortmanna, a rather showy water-plant with blue flowers. The "erinus" section are natives of the Cape of Good Hope, and comprise L. bicolor and L. campanulata, from which many of the garden varieties have been bred. The splendid plants of the "herbaceous" section, comprising L. cardinalis, L. splendens, and L. fulgens, are natives of Mexico.