This Chilean native is the fourth entry in this week's Perennial Plant Sale series (plant lists). The whole plant is reportedly poisonous, yet also smoked as a narcotic. This likely lends credence to its common name, devil's tobacco.

The Royal Horticultural Society has a small article about the genus Lobelia, with a particular emphasis on Lobelia tupa in cultivation.

I'm not particularly happy about the strong background lighting with these photographs. I have my eye on the plants growing in the South American section of the Alpine Garden so that I can attempt another image when they are in flower (late summer locally).

Horticulture / history resource link: From the University of Arizona's Arid Lands newsletter, Paradise on Earth: Historical Gardens of the Arid Middle East, an article by Safei El-Deen Hamed.