Texas Gardening: Texas Native Plant Pictures ( Trees ), 1 by htop
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In reply to: Texas Native Plant Pictures ( Trees )
Forum: Texas Gardening
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htop wrote: Tree Tobacco (Nicotiana glauca), Solanaceae Family, naturalized, evergreen, blooms mid-March through November (warm climates, all year), all parts are poisonous County distribution: http://plants.usda.gov/java/county?state_name=Texas&statefip... Tree tobacco is small, evergreen tree or shrub with a loose-branching habit. It grows between 6 and 25 feet tall; however, it is usually between 6 and 15 feet tall. The opposite, smooth, large lance-shaped leaves appear on short stalks and clasp the stems. The thickish, oblong, silvery blue-green, rubbery leaves are opposite each other low on the branches. Lacking stalks, the upper leaves lie in an upward angle against the branches. They become smaller as they near the end of the branches near the flowering portion. The bark has a waxy coating. Tree tobacco usually blooms from mid-March through November; however, in warm climates it will bloom all year. The up to 2-inch (5 cm) long, tubular flowers are loosely clustered at the branch tips. The flowers attract hummingbirds and are pollinated by butterflies and moths. Nicotiana glauca is propagated by cuttings or by seed. Seed should be surface-sown because they need light to germinate. They can be sown in the spring; however, for an earlier and, thus, longer bloom time, start the seeds about 8 to10 weeks before the usual last frost date. Tree tobacco contains the toxic alkaloid anabasine and all parts of the evergreen plant are toxic year-round. In Texas, cattle and horses are most frequently poisoned. Tree tobacco has been publicized as a safe, hallucinogenic plant on some internet websites; however, smoking and/or ingesting the plant has lead to death. The use of Nicotiana glauca derivatives is being studied as a possible treatment for nicotine addiction because it does not contain nicotine. For more information, see its entry in the PlantFiles: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/51448/ Tree Tobacco (Nicotiana glauca) blooms ... Photo courtesy of Forest and Kim Starr. |