Nicotiana attenuata

Wiggins 1964, Kearney and Peebles 1969

Duration: Annual Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Erect annual with simple stems, but more often a branched perennial 50-120 cm high, glandular-pubescent throughout, old stems white, tomentulose. Leaves: Lower leaves oblanceolate, 1.5-4 cm wide, 5-15 cm long, sessile or with winged petiole, acute to short-acuminate, margins often undulate, upper leaves lance-elliptic, sessile, auriculate, smaller. Flowers: Inflorescence racemose-paniculate; calyx ovoid-campanulate, tube 3-5 mm wide, 5-8 mm long, subequal teeth, triangular-lanceolate, equal to one and a half as long as tube, exceeding mature capsule; corolla nearly funnelform, white, tinged with green near throat, glandular-puberulent without, tube 18-20 mm long, 4-6 mm wide at unconstricted throat, limb 10-14 mm wide, remains expanded throughout day. Fruits: Capsule ovoid, acute, 8-10 mm long. Ecology: Found in washes, in sandy slopes, roadsides, and along fields from 1,000-7,000 ft (305-2134 m); flowers May-October. Distribution: UT to TX, AZ and CA. Notes: Told apart by the deltoid or deltoid-lanceolate calyx lobes, all shorter than calyx tube, which appears pock-marked. Distinguished from N. cleavlandii by the stem leaves which mostly have petioles (mostly sessile in N. cleavlandii) and the corolla 2-4 cm long (1-2 cm long in N. cleavlandii). Ethnobotany: Smoked in medicine ceremonies, taken for nosebleed, as a narcotic, for headache, smoked in corn husks for cough, sparingly used to expel worms, used for rheumatism, as a physic, smoked as a a cold remedy and for asthma, for cuts, as a liniment for swellings, taken as an emetic, a kidney aid, for measles, respiratory diseases, tuberculosis, toothache, used for the bladder, and the leaves were smoked for pleasure and for other ceremonial purposes. Etymology: Nicotiana is named for Jean Nicot (1530-1600), the French ambassador to Portugal responsible for introducing tobacco to France in 1560, while attenuata means narrowed to a point. Synonyms: Nicotiana torreyana Editor: SBuckley, 2010