Description: Lobelia is an indigenous North American annual or biennial plant found in pastures, meadows, and cultivated fields of the eastern U.S. 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 ser- rate. Numerous small, two-lipped, blue flowers grow in spike-like racemes. The fruit is a two-celled capsule filled with small, brown seeds. 

Properties and Uses: Antispasmodic, diaphoretic, diuretic, emetic, expectorant, nervine. In the past, lobelia was used particularly for its antispasmodic qualities to treat asthma and whooping cough, and also to induce vomiting. Externally, the plant can be made into a poultice for bruises, insect bites, sprains, felons, ring- worm, erysipelas, and poison ivy irritation.

CAUTION: 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.