Dhawal / Wild Tobacco
Lobelia nicotianifolia
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala & more
- Flowering
- October-March
How to identify Dhawal
Identify Dhawal by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a undershrub habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Large tobacco-like leaves, toxic sap (wild tobacco).
- Confirm flower colour: White.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: October-March.
- In India, compare location records such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Campanulaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Dhawal.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Lobelia nicotianifolia
- Genus
- Lobelia
- Family
- Campanulaceae
- Habit
- Undershrub
- Habitat
- Grasslands, shola and Evergreen forests
- Distribution
- Indo-Malesia, SE. Asia
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal
- Flowering & fruiting
- October-March
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Whiterecorded
Typical of the family
- Inflorescence
- Cyme
Characters marked “recorded” are for Dhawal itself; the rest are typical of the Campanulaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- Dhawal, Narasala
- Bengali
- Badanala
- Tamil
- Upperichedi
- Telugu
- Adavipogaku
- Kannada
- ಕಾಡುಹೊಗೆಸೊಪ್ಪು Kaduhogesoppu, ಕಂದಲೆ Kandale
- Malayalam
- Kattupokala
- Marathi
- Dhawal, रान तंबाखू Ran tambakhu
About Dhawal
Wild Tobacco (Lobelia nicotianifolia) belongs to the Campanulaceae family, where it grows as a low shrub. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and 10 other states. It grows in grasslands, shola and Evergreen forests. Flowering and fruiting run from October to March.
Campanulaceae
Bellflower Family
Dhawal belongs to the Campanulaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Campanulaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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