n. [ NL. So called from Lobel, botanist to King James I. ] (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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A natural family of plants not recognized in all classification systems; in some classifications lobeliaceous plants are included in family Campanulaceae.
Syn. -- family Lobeliaceae, lobelia family. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. (Bot.) Of or pertaining to a natural order of plants of which the genus Lobelia is the type. [ 1913 Webster ]