lobelia

[ loh-beel-yuh ]

/ loʊˈbil yə /

any herbaceous or woody plant of the genus Lobelia, having long clusters of blue, red, yellow, or white flowers.

Compare lobelia family.

Origin of lobelia

1730–40; < New Latin; named after Matthias de Lobel (1538–1616), Flemish botanist, physician to James I of England; see -ia

Little did he know how all this could be escaped by a good dose of lobelia.

Confessions of Boyhood |John Albee
Says I, "Cease instantly, or my sickness will increase; for such talk is like thoroughwort or lobelia to my moral stomach."

Sweet Cicely |Josiah Allen's Wife: Marietta Holley
Most of the time on the island we spent debating how Lobelia come to be on the schooner.

Cape Cod Stories |Joseph C. Lincoln
Take half an ounce each of green tea and lobelia herb, and tincture a few days in four ounces of alcohol and water, equal parts.

The Ladies Book of Useful Information |Anonymous

The bed was trodden down, the geraniums broken, and the lobelia border showed big gaps in its blue and greenness.

Mrs. Bindle |Hebert Jenkins

lobelia

/ (ləʊˈbiːlɪə) /

any plant of the campanulaceous genus Lobelia, having red, blue, white, or yellow five-lobed flowers with the three lower lobes forming a lip

C18: from New Latin, named after Matthias de Lobel (1538–1616), Flemish botanist