This is an excellent option if you have enough space, since it quickly grows to about 2 meters. It features very large, felted grey-green leaves and strange-looking beautiful red flowers which bloom for a long time. The seeds should be planted in spring, it prefers soil with good drainage, but is rather undemanding and will grow almost in any type of soil, including heavy clay soils. Sow the seeds superficially, and for best results apply some heat or cover up with a plastic. It has a narcotic alkaloid lobeline. It was used by the Mapuche Indians as a ritual plant, the leaves of which were smoked. It has two medicinal effects, narcotic and analgesic (especially for toothache), but the whole plant is poisonous, so one must be very careful with it.
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