Lobelia
Parts Usually Used
Seeds, flowers, and leaves
Description of Plant(s) and Culture
Lobelia is an annual or biennial; the erect, angular stem, growing from 6 inches to 3 feet high, is hairy and contains a milky sap. The thin, light green leaves are alternate, hairy, ovate, and bluntly serrate. Numerous small, two-lipped, pale-blue flowers grow in spike-like racemes, to 1/4 inch; from July to November. The fruit is a two-celled capsule filled with small, brown seeds.
Other varieties: Great lobelia (L. siphilitica) (potentially poisonous); Cardinal flower (L. cardinalis); and Pale-spike lobelia (L. spicata).
Where Found
Found in fields, pastures, meadows, and cultivated fields of the eastern United States, as far west as Arkansas and Nebraska. Related species are found in other parts of the country.
Medicinal Properties
Antispasmodic, diaphoretic, diuretic, emetic, expectorant, nervine, stimulant, sedative
Biochemical Information
Alkaloids, chelidonic acid, isolobeline, lobelic acid, lobeline, selenium, and sulfur.
Legends, Myths and Stories
Lobelia is used in commercial smoking preparations to counteract the desire for tobacco. The Shoshone Indians used lobelia as an emetic and a laxative.
Uses
Historically, herbalists utilized lobelia primarily for its reputed antispasmodic properties to address asthma and whooping cough, as well as an emetic to induce vomiting. Practitioners also recommended it to manage coughs, fevers, cold symptoms, sore throats, laryngitis, colic, bronchitis, and chest pains, while attributing relaxant qualities and hormone-regulating effects to the plant.
Externally, folk traditions applied lobelia poultices to bruises, insect bites, sprains, and poison ivy irritation.
How Sold
Lobeline, one of 14 alkaloids in lobelia, is used in commercial “quit-smoking” lozenges and chewing gum. )
Warning
Although some herbal practitioners have sworn by lobelia as a harmless but effective panacea for what ails man, overdoses of homemade medicinal preparations have resulted in poisoning. Care should be taken to follow directions in formula or recipe given for medicinal purposes. Considered toxic, due to its strong emetic, expectorant, and sedative effects. This plant has been, rightly or wrongly, implicated in deaths from improper use as a home remedy.
Use professionally prepared medications under medical supervision only.
Bibliography
, Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994 The Complete Medicinal Herbal , by Penelope Ody, Dorling Kindersley, Inc, 232 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, First American Edition, copyright 1993 Chinese Medicinal Herbs , compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973. The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.
copyright 1974. Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants , by Steven Foster and James A. , Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10000 Indian Uses of Native Plants , by Edith Van Allen Murphey, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1958, print 1990 Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes.
, Copyright 1988, published 1992 Prescription for Nutritional Healing, Fifth Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements , by James F. D. and Phyllis A. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023 The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine , by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988.
The Rodale Herb Book: How to Use, Grow, and Buy Nature’s Miracle Plants (An Organic gardening and farming book) , edited by William H. Hylton, Rodale Press, Inc. , 1974