Nicotiana attenuata
Nicotiana quadrivalvis
coyote tobacco, wild tobacco
Bigelow's tobacco, four-valved tobacco, Indian or Bigelow's or Wallace's tobacco, Indian tobacco, wild tobacco
single or with few weak lateral branches, 5–20 dm, viscid-pubescent or glabrate with few hairs with swollen bases.
single or with multiple robust branches, 3–20 dm, moist, patent, viscid-pubescent.
petiole length to 1/2 blade, distal leaves sessile;
blade lanceolate to linear, progressively narrower distally, 2–8(–10.5) cm, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces viscid-pubescent or glabrate.
sessile or short-petiolate, congested toward inflorescence;
blade ovate to lanceolate, 1–4 cm, gradually decreasing in size and narrower distally, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces coarsely viscid-pubescent.
unbranched or with few short lateral branches, somewhat leafy; flowering crepuscular (early morning).
unbranched or few-branched, leafy to bracteate; flowering crepuscular.
0.2–0.4 cm.
0.4–1 cm (longer in fruit).
calyx uniformly green or with weakly developed veins, 0.6–1 cm, densely viscid-pubescent (hairs with swollen bases), lobes narrowly triangular, shorter than tube, unequal;
corolla straight, 2–3.5 cm (excluding limb), viscid-puberulent externally, tube creamy white or tinged with purple-green or gray-green, 0.5–0.7 cm × 1.5–2 mm, widening to throat 2–3 × 5 mm (asymmetrically dilated distally), glabrous or minutely puberulent within, limb spreading or slightly reflexed, white or cream, pentagonal to ± circular and often asymmetrically spreading, 0.4–0.8 cm diam., lobes shallow and rounded or obtuse, broadly triangular (proximal lobes reflexed);
stamens inserted near base of throat, included;
filaments unequal, 4 of 3 cm (2 of these slightly longer), 1 shorter, 1.5–2 cm, glabrous or minutely pubescent proximally;
style straight, just shorter than longest stamen pair.
calyx green, elliptic, 10-ridged (or more in fasciated plants), 0.9–3.5 cm, densely viscid-pubescent, (trichomes occasionally with swollen bases), lobes linear, ± equal, length equaling or sometimes exceeding tube, sinus membranes long, transparent;
corolla straight, 2–5 cm (excluding limb), minutely viscid-pubescent externally, tube and throat not well differentiated, white or ivory, or tinged purple externally and oily-glossy, broadly trumpet-shaped, tubular portion from 2 mm diam. at base to 7 mm diam. at mouth (much wider in fasciated varieties), glabrous or minutely puberulent internally, limb spreading, cream to white flushed with grayish purple (externally), stellate to pentagonal, 2–5 cm diam., lobes broadly triangular, acute;
stamens unequal, 4 inserted just below mouth, exserted, 1 inserted ca. 1 cm deeper in throat, included;
filaments ± equal, 0.3–1 cm, glabrous;
style straight, just exceeding stamens.
not tearing at sinuses, covering to 1/2 of mature capsule.
not tearing at sinuses, completely enclosing capsule.
ovoid, 0.8–1.2 cm.
narrowly ovoid, 1–2.5 cm.
0.8 mm.
0.9 mm.
leaves: petiole length shorter than or almost equaling blade (2–3 cm);
blade elliptic or oblong-elliptic, 5–10 cm, surfaces viscid-pubescent.
leaves: petiole length to 1/2 blade;
blade elliptic to narrowly ovate, 1–1.5 cm, surfaces usually viscid-pubescent abaxially, glabrous adaxially.
= 24.
= 48.
Nicotiana attenuata
Nicotiana quadrivalvis
Nicotiana attenuata is the most common species of the genus in the Great Basin, and often forms large colonies after fires and other disturbance. It has been the subject of intensive study over many years by the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology at the Lytle Ranch Preserve in southwestern Utah (for example, C. Diezel et al. 2011; D. Kessler et al. 2015). There are some records of its use by Native American peoples as a smoking or chewing tobacco; it has also been reported as a medicinal plant used by the Zuni people (M. C. Stevenson 1915). Nicotiana torreyana A. Nelson & J. F. Macbride is an illegitimate name that has been applied to this species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Nicotiana quadrivalvis was widely cultivated by western Native American peoples, and prior to European expansion to the west, was grown from Haida Gwaii in British Columbia across the Great Plains to North Dakota and Missouri. The tobacco collected by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in North Dakota was N. quadrivalvis; however, recent collections from this area are only from cultivated plants (for example, Reveal 8376, NY). Plants derived from cultivated forms often have supernumerary flower parts (fasciation) and flowers with more than five petals. These forms are most often collected from northern California northwards; the first collection of this type was made along the Columbia River in Oregon by David Douglas.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria, 
SW CO Wildflowers 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
- Local floras: BC, CA, OR
- Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria
- WildflowerSearch
- iNaturalist (observations)
- USDA Plants Database
- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
