Witnessed by: Western
Lobelia (Lobelia inflata), of the Campanulaceae family. Slender annual or biennial with pale-blue flowers and inflated seed-capsules; native range: open fields and roadsides of eastern North America. Globally recognized as Indian tobacco; pukeweed; asthma weed in English. The part used is flowering and seeding aerial parts. Acrid herb producing a burning, tobacco-like scratch in the throat followed by a lingering numbness and nausea.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
LOBELIA
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- lobelia
- Scientific name
- Lobelia inflata L.
- Family
- Campanulaceae
Form
- Part used
- flowering and seeding aerial parts
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- acrid · pungent
Temperature
- Western
- warm
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- lungs · nerves
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- antispasmodic, respiratory relaxant, expectorant, emetic, nervine
Cautions
- Contraindications
- avoid in pregnancy, shock and debility; not for the untrained given its narrow margin
- Toxicity
- toxic in overdose from lobeline, causing nausea, vomiting, sweating, prostration and depressed breathing
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