Indian tobacco

Lobelia inflata

These small inconspicuous flowers hiding in the tall grasses are indeed bloated!

The Indian tobacco contains an alkaloid similar to nicotine, lobeline.

Cattle in pastures avoid consuming it.

Has been used for a long time as a substitute for tobacco, moreover it is still used as such in parts of the United States.

According to Marie-Victorin should be considered as a violent poison.

Its Latin epithet "inflata" (inflated) comes from its swollen fruits (capsules).