Desert Tobacco
Nicotiana obtusifolia
From west side of Las Vegas, Nevada, just outside Red Rock Canyon, taken March 2005 by User:Stan Shebs and is available full resolution at Wikimedia.
Photographed at 03 Aug. 2008 in Rackensack Canyon, Maricopa Co., Arizona, USA.
By late spring through autumn when there are plenty of developing seeds, small dark bugs in the family Thyreocoridae are almost always present. With piercing-sucking mouthparts they feed on the developing seeds.
PERENNIAL/SUBSHRUB : Long-lived perennial with woody base. Remains green
and leafy well into drought periods.
LEAVES Oblong leaves have a rubbery to sticky texture and are
well-scented with pleasant tobacco aroma.
RANGE : Common especially along washes and cliff faces throughout the
Sonoran Desert up to 1500 m elevation.
FLOWERS: Clusters of tubular cream-colored flowers.
FRUIT: Dry capsules with many seeds.
Enlarged view of flower from west side of Las Vegas, Nevada, just outside Red Rock Canyon, taken March 2005 by User:Stan Shebs and is available at higher resolution at Wikimedia.