Wild Lobelia (Lobelia erinus)

Family Lobeliaceae

 Flowers form large stands in seasonally wet places in grasslands.

 Annual or perennial. Erect or spreading and it grows up to 100 mm high. The leaves are rotund-ovate, spathulate or obovate-oblong, ± 10 x 4-8 mm. The inflorescence is in a loose raceme arrangement. Flower colour ranges from blue, violet, pink or white and mostly with white markings in the centre. The corolla is 8-14 mm long. The fruit is a capsule, obconical-oblong, 5-8 mm long. The flowering time of the species is between September and December. The preferable habitat is lower mountain slopes and coastal flats. The distribution ranges from the Bokkeveld Mountains to tropical Africa.


Powdered root and leaves are mixed with a little water and sniffed to clear a blocked nose.