About Lobelia tupa L.
Lobelia tupa L. is a species of Lobelia native to central Chile, growing from the Valparaíso region south to the Los Lagos region. It is an evergreen perennial plant that can reach up to 4 meters in height, and grows best in dry soils. Its foliage is grey-green, and bears felty elliptical leaves that measure 10 to 15 centimeters long. It produces red, tubular, 2-lipped flowers arranged in a sympodium growth pattern. This plant has many ethnobotanical uses, thanks to its pharmaceutically active alkaloids. Its latex is used as an abortifacient, while its large felty leaves are smoked as a narcotic that may produce hallucinogenic effects. This characteristic gives the plant one of its common names: Tabaco del Diablo, or Devil's tobacco. Ironically, Lobelia tupa has also been used to treat nicotine addiction, because it contains the nicotine-related alkaloid lobeline, a mixed agonist–antagonist at nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The Mapuche people of Southern Chile consider Lobelia tupa a sacred plant. Compounds found in the leaves of this plant also act as respiratory stimulants.
