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Lobelia nicotianifolia
Campanulaceae FAMILY

Lobelia nicotianifolia

Lobelia nicotianifolia

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

The seeds are very poisonous[1]. The dry herb, when handled, is very acrid, and causes irritation to the throat and nostrils like tobacco. The symptoms of poisoning are similar to those of nicotine[1]. The latex of the plant causes dermatitis[1]. Many, if not all, species in the genus Lobelia contain a range of piperidine alkaloids, particularly lobeline and lobelanine. If ingested, these can cause a range of symptoms including nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, salivation, exhaustion and weakness, dilation of pupils, convulsions, and coma. Generally, the degree of toxicity is only moderate and plants are only harmful in larger quantities - indeed several species have medicinal uses and a few are even eaten as wild foods[2]

Cultivation Details

HabitBiennial/Perennial
Growth—

Plants can flower and produce fruit almost all year round[3].

Propagation

Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Lobelia+nicotianifolia>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
  2. [2]Poisonous Plants of North Carolina — http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/poison.htm ↩︎An excellent concise but comprehensive guide to toxic plants that grow in N. Carolina. It lists even those plants that are of very low toxicity, including several well-known food plants such as carrots and potatoes.
  3. [3]The Genus Lobelia L. (Lobeliaceae) in India — Singh R.Kr. & Diwakar P.G. · 2010 ↩︎
  4. [4]Flora Malesiana Series 1 — Various · Nationaal Herbarium Nederiand, Universiteit Leiden branch · http://www.archive.org ↩︎A massive treatment of the plants of the Malaysian Archipelago. Much of it has been made available to download from the Internet
  5. [5]Trade in Indian Medicinal Plants — D.K.Ved, S.Noorunnisa Begum, & K.Ravi Kumar · Apple Academic Press; Oakville, Canada · 2018 · ISBN 978-1-77188-600-0 ↩︎
  6. [6]Ethnobotanicals of the Western Ghats — Noorunnisa Begum S., Ravikumar K. & Ved D.K. · Apple Academic Press; Oakville, Canada · 2017 · ISBN 978-1-77188-404-4 ↩︎