lobelia

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Any of numerous plants of the genus Lobelia, having terminal racemes of variously colored flowers with a bilabiate corolla.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of gamopetalous plants, the type of natural order Lobeliaceæ, distinguished by having the corolla-tube split down almost to the base, without a spur, and with a capsule which is two-valved at the summit. The plants are herbs, rarely shrubby, with alternate leaves, and irregular five-parted flowers either axillary or in racemes. There are about 200 species, found in all warm and temperate regions, with the exception of central and eastern Europe and western Asia. Numerous species are cultivated for the beauty of their flowers, which are usually blue, scarlet, or purple. L. cardinalis is the cardinal-flower, and L. syphilitica is sometimes called the blue cardinal-flower. (See cardinal-flower.) L. Dortmanna grows in the water of shallow lakes in northern Europe and America, and is called water-lobelia. L. coronopifolia is called buck's-horn on account of its forked leaves. L. Erinus of the Cape of Good Hope is the common little spreading lobelia of conservatories and gardens. L. fulgens and L. splendens from Mexico are conspicuous cultivated species. The officinal lobelia formerly employed as an emetic is L. inflata. It contains an acrid narcotic poison. It is a wide-spread American species.
2. n. [lowercase] A plant of this genus.

Wiktionary

1. n. A member of the genus Lobelia, flowering plants in the Lobeliaceae family containing many species, some of which are garden plants.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Bot.) A genus of plants, including a great number of species. Lobelia inflata, or Indian tobacco, is an annual plant of North America, whose leaves contain a poisonous white viscid juice, of an acrid taste. It has often been used in medicine as an emetic, expectorant, etc. Lobelia cardinalis is the cardinal flower, remarkable for the deep and vivid red color of its flowers.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. any plant or flower of the genus Lobelia