I have actually been writing VOLUMINOUSLY about herbs and weeds and healing over at the Wise Woman Forum and I apologize for neglecting Weeds and Wild Things over here.
So. I'm going to attempt to be a bit more TIMELY and look AT what we might be looking FOR here in the Northeast US as far as prized weeds go. The Cleavers have come and gone, Motherwort is still blooming, St John's wort is past its prime (unless you've BEEN cutting a stand of it and it's re-blooming) The orange daylilies are heralding the 'down the other side' of summer already. Plantain has sent up its distinctive seed stalks and the garlic mustard is WELL into its second and even third incarnation of the season.....So who's waiting in the wings here. Ah, I know who I'M waiting for, the Lobelia inflata...... I had to snuffle through quite a few GoogleImages to find one that captures the character of the plant. It is indeed a wildling, tries to come up in lawns and at the edge of the woods. It's more recognizable once the INFLATA pods show up which is good, as THAT is the time to gather it for tinctures. (Late July through October)
Lobelia (and there are MANY of them, from little, fluffy, trailing sweethearts we plant in window boxes and hanging baskets to the dramatic Lobelia cardinalis, the blood-red native of the woods) is named after a Flemish botanist by the name of Matthias de L'Obel. All lobelias have distinctive flowers with a two-part upper lip. Lobelia inflata has also earned some colorful common names as well, like PUKE WEED, GAGROOT, and EMETIC WEED which gives you SOME indication as to what will happen if you take it carelessly. It is also called Indian or Wild Tobacco, but even as a smoke, its effects can go from truly uncomfortable to downright deadly. In days past, there were herbalists who believed that Lobelia inflata's healing qualities were contained in its cleansing, emetic qualities. However, as little as a single ml of the tincture CAN cause nausea, uncontrollable vomiting, tremors, paralysis, convulsions, coma and death. So this is nothing to MESS with. While considered 'poisonous' in itself, it is also considered, according to Alma Hutchins, to be an antidote for poison! She also suggests using it ALWAYS with other herbs.
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