Great Blue Lobelia
Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)
Lobelia siphilitica, found throughout the US and Canada in wetlands and swamps, is a herbaceous perennial in the Bellflower Family. It grows up to three feet tall, with long racemes of blue flowers, a favorite of hummingbirds. Historically, Native Americans used the plant’s roots and leaves to treat coughs, nosebleeds, headaches, colds, and, as its scientific name would suggest, syphilis (Anderson, 2003; Folquitto et al., 2019). Ingesting Great Blue Lobelia leaves can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or, in larger amounts, death. Modern use includes extracting an alkaloid, lobeline, used in over-the-counter smoking cessation aids, although there is little evidence of its effectiveness for smoking cessation (Stead & Hughes, 2012). However, lobeline and related piperidine alkaloids are used in several antidepressant and opioid medications (Brown et al., 2016; Vitaku et al., 2014).
Historical Use
Historical information on the use of Great Blue Lobelia can be found in William Barton’s Vegetable Materia Medica of the United States written in 1818. Barton describes the plant as “rank-smelling, particularly the root.” He indicates the root was used by Native Americans to treat syphilis, but also discredits that, noting the lack of evidence for the efficacy of such treatments. Indeed, he reports, Native Americans used the root in combination with many other plants to treat syphilis.
Latest Research
- Effects of nonpharmacological manipulations and repeated xanomeline treatment on methamphetamine-vs-food choice in Sprague Dawley and Long Evans rats
by Amber N Baldwin on March 26, 2026 at 10:00 amCONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that methamphetamine-vs-food choice was sensitive to parametric manipulations in rats and that xanomeline may warrant further consideration as a MUD pharmacotherapy.
- The effect of drought stress on the limits and costs of plasticity in floral longevity in response to pollinator declineby Caelen McCabe on February 6, 2026 at 11:00 am
CONCLUSIONS: Drought stress does not affect the cost of plasticity in floral longevity but could limit the expression of extended longevity. Consequently, whether extended floral longevity could increase seed production as pollinators decline may depend on human-induced changes in precipitation.
- Population-level phylogenomic analysis yields insights into species cohesion and population substructure of Lobelia section Lobelia (Campanulaceae)by Grant T Godden on July 16, 2025 at 10:00 am
How close relatives maintain species boundaries in sympatry remains a critical question in biodiversity research. Here we introduce Lobelia sect. Lobelia (Campanulaceae) as a useful clade for investigating such questions. Polyphyly within this clade was strongly suspected because many of the 26 species are cross-compatible and show remarkable overlap in distribution, morphology, ecology, and life history. Indeed, the species Lobelia × rogersii has a purported hybrid origin from Lobelia puberula…
- Pollination efficiency of hummingbirds and flowerpiercers at the flowers of Lobelia laxiflora (Campanulaceae): morphological fit mattersby Stefan Abrahamczyk on April 30, 2025 at 10:00 am
Research on pollination systems has largely focused on structures of mutualistic networks, whereas pollinator efficiency defining the quality of visits received much less attention. Different flower-visiting animals can vary in their pollination efficiency, e.g. due to their morphology, size or visitation frequency. Here, we analyse several reproductive traits, including flower morphology and reproductive system of Lobelia laxiflora and compare pollination efficiency of flower visitors based on…
- The spatial distribution of a hummingbird-pollinated plant is not strongly influenced by hummingbird abundanceby Matthew L Coffey on April 26, 2025 at 10:00 am
CONCLUSIONS: While populations of hummingbird-pollinated plant species may require the local presence of hummingbirds, fine-scale variation in hummingbird abundance may not strongly influence their spatial distributions.
References
Anderson, M. K. (2003). Great Blue Lobelia Plant Guide.
Brown, D. P., Rogers, D. T., Gunjan, S. K., Gerhardt, G. A., & Littleton, J. M. (2016). Target-directed discovery and production of pharmaceuticals in transgenic mutant plant cells. J Biotechnol, 238, 9-14.
Folquitto, D. G., Swiech, J. N. D., Pereira, C. B., Bobek, V. B., Halila Possagno, G. C., Farago, P. V., Miguel, M. D., Duarte, J. L., & Miguel, O. G. (2019). Biological activity, phytochemistry and traditional uses of genus Lobelia (Campanulaceae): A systematic review. Fitoterapia, 134, 23-38.
Stead, L. F., & Hughes, J. R. (2012). Lobeline for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2012(2), Cd000124.
Vitaku, E., Smith, D. T., & Njardarson, J. T. (2014). Analysis of the structural diversity, substitution patterns, and frequency of nitrogen heterocycles among U.S. FDA approved pharmaceuticals. J Med Chem, 57(24), 10257-10274.
Other Resources
Natural Medicines record: Lobelia. (Access to UI only)