Indian tobacco

Lobelia inflata

"Lobelia inflata" is a species of "Lobelia" native to eastern North America, from southeastern Canada south through the eastern United States to Alabama and west to Kansas.
Indian Tobacco One of my favourite plants to come across is Indian Tobacco (Lobelia inflata) usually found in open woodlands this one here is in flower next to the marsh at Alleyn-et-Cawood, Quebec, Canada. Alleyn-et-Cawood,Canada,Geotagged,Indian Tobacco,Indian tobacco,Lobelia inflata,Quebec,Summer

Uses

"Lobelia inflata" has a long use as a medicinal plant, as an entheogenic, emetic, and a dermatological and respiratory aid. Native Americans used it for respiratory and muscle disorders, as a purgative, and as a ceremonial medicine. The plant was used as a traditional medicinal plant by the Cherokee, Iroquois, Penobscot, and other indigenous peoples. The foliage was burned by the Cherokee as a natural insecticide, to smoke out gnats. It was widely used in the pre-Columbian New England region, long before the time of Samuel Thomson, who was erroneously credited as discovering it.

It is still used medicinally in the present day; however, there are adverse effects that limit its use. Side effects can include sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, tremors, rapid heartbeat, mental confusion, convulsions, hypothermia, coma, and possibly death.

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Taxonomy
KingdomPlantae
DivisionAngiosperms
ClassEudicots
OrderAsterales
FamilyCampanulaceae
GenusLobelia
SpeciesL. inflata