Lobelia inflata
| Lobelia inflata | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Self Pollinated | |
| Height: | 2' |
| Width: | 1' |
| Blooms: | Mid Summer-Late Summer |
| Native to: | |
| Medicinal Rating: | |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Lobelia inflata (common name: indian tobacco)
Propagation: Seed - sow spring or autumn in situ. The seed usually germinates within 2 weeks.
Cultivation: Succeeds in full sun or light shade[1]. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Prefers a slightly acid soil[2].
Plants are usually annual, but are sometimes biennial[3].
This species is occasionally cultivated commercially as a medicinal plant[4][5].
Range: Northern N. America - Labrador to Saskatchewan, Georgia, Kansas and Arkansas.
Habitat: Meadows, fields, roadsides, waste places and open woods[6][7]. Usually in dry soils[8].
Medicinal: Indian Tobacco was a traditional North American Indian remedy for a wide range of conditions[9]. Nowadays it is used mainly as a powerful antispasmodic herb in the treatment of respiratory and muscle disorders[9]. Acting also as a respiratory stimulant, Indian Tobacco is a valuable remedy for conditions such as bronchial asthma and chronic bronchitis[9].
The dried flowering herb and the seed are antiasthmatic, antispasmodic, diaphoretic, diuretic, emetic, expectorant and nervine[3][10][11][4][12][13]. The plant is taken internally in the treatment of asthma, bronchitis, whooping cough and pleurisy[2]. This remedy should be used with great caution and only under the supervision of a qualified practitioner[10][11][12]. Excess doses cause nausea, vomiting, drowsiness and respiratory failure[2]. 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[10][1][14]. It is contained in many proprietary anti-smoking mixtures where it mimics the effects of nicotine[2].
The alkaloids present in the leaves are used to stimulate the removal of phlegm from the respiratory tract[14]. When chewed, the leaves induce vomiting, headache and nausea - in larger doses it has caused death[14]. 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[14].
Externally, the plant is used in treating pleurisy, rheumatism, tennis elbow, whiplash injuries, boils and ulcers[2].
The whole plant is harvested when the lower fruits are ripe and it is used fresh or dried[2].
Usage: The plant has been burnt in order to smoke out gnats[15].
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Seed Ripens: Late Summer-Early Fall
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Heavy Clay: Grows in heavy-clay soils.
Known Hazards: Some reports say that the plant is poisonous[10][16][6], whilst another says that toxicity has not been established[12]. It contains the alkaloid lobeline which has a similar effect upon the nervous system as nicotine[17]. See also the notes below on me
Links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Bown, Deni. Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopaedia of Herbs and Their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, 1995.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Grieve, Margaret. A Modern Herbal. Penguin, 1984.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Schery. Robert. Plants for Man. Prentice Hall, 1972.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Stary, Frantisek. Poisonous Plants. Hamlyn, 1983.
- ↑ Lyndon, Merritt. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co, 1950.
- ↑ Britton, Nathaniel and Addison Brown. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 1970.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Chevallier, Andrew. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants. Dorling Kindersley, 1996.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Chiej, Roberto. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald, 1984.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lust, John. The Herb Book. Bantam Books, 1983.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Mills, Simon. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
- ↑ Hill, Albert. Economic Botany. The Maple Press, 1952.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Weiner, Michael. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books, 1980.
- ↑ Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
- ↑ Hylton, Josie and William Holtom. Complete Guide to Herbs. Rodale Press, 1979.
- ↑ Diggs, George and Barney Lipscomb. Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas. Botanical Research Institute, 1999.