Find Find in this article Print article Lobelia Lobelia , genus of plants of the bellflower family. Flowers are tubular, with five partially fused petals and a solitary pistil. The fruit is a many-seeded capsule. It is native to wet places in the eastern North America. Great lobelia, or blue cardinal flower, a perennial herb native to northern North America, is of medium height and produces blue flowers.
Indian tobacco is a tall annual bearing light-blue flowers with minute petals.
The plant, native to temperate North America, produces a poisonous alkaloid, lobeline, formerly used as a constituent of quack medicines for its nicotinelike taste. Water lobelia is an aquatic plant, native to pond borders of the northern hemisphere, that produces white or pale-blue flowers. Most garden lobelias of the United States are cardinal flowers, dwarf-blue lobelias, great lobelias, or hybrids between these and other lobelias. All rights reserved. Learn about Encarta's editorial process.