Plants of
South Australia
South Australia
Botanical art
Etymology
Nicotiana, named after Jean Nicot (1530-1600), a French Ambassador for the King of France to Lisbon in 1560, who sent the first tobacco plant to France. Maritima, from the Latin adjective 'mare', meaning the sea, alluding to its sometimes coastal distribution.
Distribution and status
Endemic to South Australia and found on the Eyre Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula, southern Flinders Ranges, Mount Lofty Ranges and Kangaroo Island, growing in sand in rocky areas, often near the coast.(Close examination of ADHerbarium specimens of Nicotiana maritima recorded from several sites in Victoria, has shown these to be either misidentified, or geographically misplaced (misinterpretation of South Australian localities for like-named places in Victoria). Native. Common in South Australia.
Herbarium regions: Flinders Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Northern Lofty, Murray, Yorke Peninsula, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
NRM regions: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges, Eyre Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Northern and Yorke, South Australian Arid Lands, South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, South East
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Erect herb to 0.7 m high, rarely taller, with hairy leaves and stems, usually grey-or white-woolly. Leaves, mostly basal to 22 cm long; ovate or elliptic, occasionally broadly so, or spatulate. Stem leaves narrow-elliptic or lanceolate, occasionally linear. Inflorescence erect panicle-spike, usually with few-branched, sparse to dense-haired, tubular white flowers. Flowering most of the year but mainly in spring. Fruits are brown ellipsoid to ovoid capsule to 12 mm long. Seeds are brown reniform seed to 1 mm long and 0.7 mm wide, covered in wrinkles. Seed embryo type is linear fully developed.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between October and January. Collect mature capsules that are brown or turning a pale straw-colour and contain brown seeds. Can collect individual capsules or break off the whole fruit spike. Place the capsules in a tray and leave to dry for one to two weeks, then rub the capsules gently by hand to dislodge the seeds. Use a sieve to separate the unwanted material. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place. From one collection, the seed viability was high, at 90%.
| Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BGA MSB | 27,500 (4 g) 27,500 (4 g) | 100+ | 16-Nov-2005 | MKJ140 Southern Lofty | 9-Aug-2006 | 90% | -18°C |
| BGA | 23,500 (3.63 g) | 40+ | 26-Oct-2017 | JJS6 Southern Lofty | 30-Jun-2018 | 75% | -18°C, -80°C |
