Indian Tobacco another Lobelia

This light blue flower is related to the Cardinal Flower. If you look back two entries on the blog you will see the Cardinal Flower. You can click on the images and you will be able to see more closely how they are similar. Though it is called Indian Tobacco and it is assumed because of the name that Indians smoked it, several sources stated that this may not be true. It is thought that it was called, in earlier times, Wild Tobacco, and as time went on it was just assumed that it being called Tobacco and Wild that the American Indians did what you do with tobacco ... they smoked it. But there is no historical evidence to back that up.  It is suppose to have a nicotine sort of effect if you chew the leaves. Everyone from quacks, physicians and many tribes in New England have used this plant for medicinal concoctions. The American Indians have also used it to scare off ghosts and even heal marriages. They believed it to have magical powers.


Where I found it : On the path into the woods