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Lobelia
Also called Giant Lobelia
Lobelia is a large genus of about 444 flowering plants in the bellflower family, including annuals, perennials and shrubs. Commonly grown garden members include cardinal flower, blue lobelia and edging lobelia, and most like consistently moist soil.
Lobelia () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Campanulaceae comprising 444 species, with a subcosmopolitan distribution primarily in tropical to warm temperate regions of the world, a few species extending into cooler temperate regions. They are known generally as lobelias.
Several species are cultivated as ornamental plants in gardens. These include Lobelia cardinalis syn. Lobelia fulgens (cardinal flower or Indian pink), Lobelia siphilitica (blue lobelia), and Lobelia erinus, which is used for edging and window boxes.
Many members of the genus are considered poisonous, with some containing the toxic principle lobeline. Because of lobeline's similarity to nicotine, the internal use of lobelia may be dangerous to susceptible populations, including children, pregnant women, and individuals with cardiac disease. Excessive use will cause nausea and vomiting. It is not recommended for use by pregnant women and is best administered by a practitioner qualified in its use. It also has a chemical known as lobellicyonycin, which may cause dizziness.
Lobelia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the Setaceous Hebrew Character.
Cardinalflower · Chinese lobelia · Dortmann's cardinalflower · Edging lobelia · Indian-tobacco · Sierra Madre lobelia · Lobelia oligophylla · Lobelia polyphylla · Devil's Tobacco
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lobelia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
