Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Nicotiana attenuata is a species of wild tobacco known by the common name coyote tobacco. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Texas and northern Mexico, where it grows in many types of habitat. It is a hairy and sparsely hairy annual herb exceeding a meter in maximum height. The leaf blades may be 10 centimeters long, the lower ones oval and the upper narrower in shape, and are borne on petioles. The flower cluster bears several flowers with pinkish or greenish white tubular throats 2 to 3 centimeters long, their bases enclosed in pointed sepals. The flower face has five mostly white lobes. The fruit is a capsule about a centimeter long. This plant was used for a great variety of medicinal purposes by many Native American groups, and was smoked ceremonially by the Hopi, Apache, Navajo, Paiute, and other groups.

Plant type

Annual herb

Size

3 - 5 ft Tall

Calscape icon
Color

Pink, White

Sun

Full Sun

Site type

Open, welldrained slopes

Plant communities

Chaparral, Foothill Woodland, Lodgepole Forest, Red Fir Forest, Subalpine Forest, Valley Grassland, Yellow Pine Forest, Wetland-Riparian

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 26 likely

Confirmed Likely

Ipsilon Dart

Agrotis ipsilon

Rascal Dart

Agrotis malefida

Venerable Dart

Agrotis venerabilis

Old Man Dart

Agrotis vetusta