Campanulaceae FAMILY

Lobelia zeylanica

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

0/5

Safety & Hazards

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[ 293 Title Poisonous Plants of North Carolina Publication Author Website http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/poison/poison.htm Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description 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. ]

Botanical Description

Lobelia zeylanica is a prostrate to ascending, annual to perennial plant with stems up to 90cm long. The stems grow along the ground, rooting at the lower nodes, then ascending to 20cm tall[ 305 Title Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk Publication Author Website http://www.hear.org/pier/scientificnames/index.html Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A very good website detailing weed species that have been introduced into the Pacific Islands. , 451 Title Flora Malesiana Series 1 Publication Author Various Website http://www.archive.org Publisher Nationaal Herbarium Nederiand, Universiteit Leiden branch Year 0 ISBN Description A massive treatment of the plants of the Malaysian Archipelago. Much of it has been made available to download from the Internet , 2054 Title The Genus Lobelia L. (Lobeliaceae) in India Publication Indian Journal of Forestry, Vol. 33 (4); 625-634, 2010 Author Singh R.Kr. & Diwakar P.G. Publisher Year 2010 ISBN Description ]. The edible leaves are sometimes gathered from the wild and used locally.

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical

Native RangeE. Asia - China, Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indo-China, Indonesia, Philippines

HabitatBy water and streams in ravines at elevations up to 1,500 metres[ 266 Title Flora of China Publication Author Website http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ Publisher Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. Year 1994 ISBN Description An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available. ]. Often abundantly naturalized along trails in dense forest and also in dry forest, wet clearings, cocoa plantations, pastures, marshes, and swamps, and along roadsides in Fiji[ 305 Title Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk Publication Author Website http://www.hear.org/pier/scientificnames/index.html Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A very good website detailing weed species that have been introduced into the Pacific Islands. ].