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. The specimen is less than 3 mm.
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.