Common Name: tree tobacco
Duration: Perennial
Nativity: Non-Native
Lifeform: Tree
Wetland Status: FAC
General: Common weed, originally from Bolivia and Argentina, naturalized, much branched shrub to small tree growing to 8 m tall.
Leaves: Thick and rubbery to 20 cm long, lance-shaped, smooth on short stalks, opposite on lower branches. Upper leaves lack stalks and lie on upward angle against branch.
Flowers: Small, tubular, cream-colored, greenish white flowers form at branch ends, corolla flares at apex, 5-cleft, unequally toothed calyx.
Fruits: Capsules contain many small brown seeds, sticky.
Ecology: Found on disturbed soils, vacant lots, roadsides, along stream banks, washes and drainages below 4,500 ft (1372 m); flowers March-November.
Notes: Found through the range, escaped cultivar in many cases, spreads by prolific seeds.
Ethnobotany: Plant is toxic. Contains anabasine, an alkaloid similar to nicotine which can be extracted to be used as an insecticide.
Etymology: Nicotiana is named for Jean Nicot (1530-1600), the French ambassador to Portugal responsible for introducing tobacco to France in 1560, glauca comes form Greek meaning bluish-gray, referring to leaves.
Synonyms: None
Editor: SBuckley, 2010