Plants: 6-28″ (15-70 cm) in height.
Stems have fine hairs.
Leaves: 2-3″ (5-7.6 cm) long and half as wide, roughly oval in shape,
with fine teeth
Flowers: ¼″ (6.3 mm) in size, white to pale blue or lavender in color, with a lower lip split into three sections, an
an inflated base that becomes a seed pod about ¼″ (8.5 mm) across. Flowers are bilaterally symmetrical,
and they appear from July to October. Usually the
flower stalks are on angled, leafless branches from the main stem, in addition to the main
stem itself. Although the flowers are small,
these pod-studded branches, like rattles, are the most easily identified characteristic.
Fruits: Seed pods, as described above.
Edibility: Poisonous This plant has been used in the
past to induce vomiting, hence the name "pukeweed." When eaten, in addition to nausea, it can cause convulsions or coma.
These effects do not occur from smoking.
Medical: Indian tobacco has long been smoked as a remedy
for asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, and cough, both by native Americans and by some herbalists
even today. Lobeline, an active ingredient, was tried as a substitute for nicotine in helping people
to quit smoking. Although it may actually help for this purpose, there is not enough research
data to support it, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned its use for this purpose in 1993.
This plant has also been used as a purgative (like ipecac), eaten to induce vomiting, but it is too
dangerous for this purpose.