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Lobelia inflata
| Common name: |
Indian Tobacco |
Family: |
Campanulaceae |
| Author: |
L. |
Botanical references: |
43, 200 |
| Synonyms: |
|
| Known Hazards: |
Some reports say that the plant is poisonous[7, 14, 19], whilst another says that toxicity has not been established[165]. It contains the alkaloid lobeline which has a similar effect upon the nervous system as nicotine[274]. See also the notes below on medicinal uses. |
| Range: |
Northern N. America - Labrador to Saskatchewan, Georgia, Kansas and Arkansas. |
| Habitat: |
Meadows, fields, roadsides, waste places and open woods[19, 43]. Usually in dry soils[235]. |
| Edibility Rating (1-5): |
0 | Medicinal Rating (1-5): | 3 |
| Other Possible Synonyms: | From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below. |
| Rapuntium inflatum[H]
|
| Other Common Names: | From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below. |
| "Indian Tobacco" [S], Blaaslobelia [D], Frengiotu [E], Indian Tobacco [H,P,E,L], Indian-tobacco [B], Lobelia [H,E,S], Lobelia, "Indian Tobacco" [S], Lobelya [E], |
| Epithets: | From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets |
|
inflata = swollen;
|
| Systematics: | From a USDA
Plants Database |
|
Order: Campanulales. Bellflower family
|
| Other Range Info: |
From the Ethnobotany Database |
|
Britain; Mongolia; Turkey; Us; Us(Appalachia); Us(In)
|
Physical Characteristics
Annual growing to 0.6m by 0.3m . . It is in flower from July to August, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs).
The plant is self-fertile.
We rate it 0/5 for edibility and
3/5 for medicinal use.
The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in heavy clay soil.
The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils.
It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade.
It requires moist soil.
Habitats and Possible Locations
Cultivated Beds.Edible Uses
None known
Medicinal Uses
Disclaimer
Antiasthmatic; Antispasmodic; Diaphoretic; Diuretic; Emetic; Expectorant; Miscellany; Nervine.
Indian Tobacco was a traditional North American Indian remedy for a
wide range of conditions[254]. Nowadays it is used mainly as a powerful
antispasmodic herb in the treatment of respiratory and muscle disorders[254].
Acting also as a respiratory stimulant, Indian Tobacco is a valuable remedy
for conditions such as bronchial asthma and chronic bronchitis[254].
The dried flowering herb and the seed are antiasthmatic, antispasmodic,
diaphoretic, diuretic, emetic, expectorant and nervine[4, 7, 21, 46, 165,
171]. The plant is taken internally in the treatment of asthma, bronchitis,
whooping cough and pleurisy[238]. This remedy should be used with great
caution and only under the supervision of a qualified practitioner[7, 21,
165]. Excess doses cause nausea, vomiting, drowsiness and respiratory
failure[238]. See also the notes above on toxicity.
The plant contains the alkaline 'lobeline' which has proved to be of value
in helping people to give up smoking tobacco[7, 200, 213]. It is contained in
many proprietary anti-smoking mixtures where it mimics the effects of
nicotine[238].
The alkaloids present in the leaves are used to stimulate the removal of
phlegm from the respiratory tract[213]. When chewed, the leaves induce
vomiting, headache and nausea - in larger doses it has caused death[213]. The
alkaloids first act as a stimulant and then as a depressive to the autonomic
nervous system and in high doses paralyses muscular action in the same way as
curare[213].
Externally, the plant is used in treating pleurisy, rheumatism, tennis
elbow, whiplash injuries, boils and ulcers[238].
The whole plant is harvested when the lower fruits are ripe and it is used
fresh or dried[238]. We have a more details factsheet on the history and medicinal use of this plant. Email webmaster@pfaf.org for details.
Other Uses
Repellent.
The plant has been burnt in order to smoke out gnats[257].
Cultivation details
Succeeds in full sun or light shade[200]. Grows well in heavy clay
soils. Prefers a slightly acid soil[238].
Plants are usually annual, but are sometimes biennial[4].
This species is occasionally cultivated commercially as a medicinal
plant[46, 57].
Propagation
Seed - sow spring or autumn in situ. The seed usually germinates within
2 weeks.
Suppliers
For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.
Web References
- Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
- [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
- [E] Ethnobotany Data
(common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
- [V] Images
from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.
- [B] Data
(Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
- [S] Illustration
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [S] Image
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [G] Data
(Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
- [PHARM] Phytochemical Data
(common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
- [P] Data.
(uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
- [S] Illustration
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
References for lobelia inflata (a possible synonym).
See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.
Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.
[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.
[14] Holtom. J. and Hylton. W. Complete Guide to Herbs. Rodale Press 1979 ISBN 0-87857-262-7
A good herbal.
[19] Stary. F. Poisonous Plants. Hamlyn 1983 ISBN 0-600-35666-3
Not very comprehensive, but easy reading.
[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.
[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
[57] Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.
Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.
[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
An excellent small herbal.
[171] Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952
Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some a bit of detail about the plants it does cover.
[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[213] Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980 ISBN 0-449-90589-6
A nice book to read though it is difficult to look up individual plants since the book is divided into separate sections dealing with the different medicinal uses plus a section on edible plants. Common names are used instead of botanical.
[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.
[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.
Readers Comments
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Plant information taken from the
Plants For A Future -
Species Database.
Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963 This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Lobelia+inflata
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Lobelia+inflata
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