Lobelia tupa

Lobelia tupa, Devil's Tobacco is a tall-growing Chliean Lobelia with long pale-green lance-shaped foliage with a soft downy surface and a tall spectacular inflorescence with dark-red stems and tubular red flowers that curve downwards in a graceful arc. The male and female reproductive parts of the flower are contained together in another tubular structure that extends upwards at an angle. The stamen tube and pistil are fused together; first the tufted black male phase releases pollen followed a few days later by the appearance of the female phase when the style and stigmas are extended.

A magnificent and somewhat imposing plant, Lobelia tupa grows fast and requires a large space to see it at its best. It enjoys a rich fertile soil that is moist but free-draining during the growing season. Moist but not wet or water-logged. In its natural environment it often grows in dry substrates on free-draining soils but in cultivation in the UK it responds well to richer moister conditions. The stems die back in late autumn with the arrival of the frosts and the roots should be protected and kept on the dry side with a generous thick mulch.