Description
Coyote tobacco is a highly revered plant to many Native American tribes in the Western U.S., where it has long been cultivated for ceremonial and medicinal use. Like other tobaccos, our native coyote tobacco also contains nicotine and has been smoked ceremonially for thousands of years. Coyote tobacco is an annual herb, typically growing 2′-5′ depending on growing conditions and location. In the garden setting with summer irrigation, coyote tobacco can grow in excess of 5′ tall. The white, five-lobed, tubular flowers are attractive to hummingbirds, sphinx moths, and native bees, especially carpenter bees that chew holes at the base of the tube to get to the nectar. Blooms May-October. The leaves are long and narrow and the foliage is hairy and somewhat glandular. Coyote tobacco grows in full sun in dry locations well-drained slopes, along cobbly or sandy floodplains, in rocky washes, and in post-fire habitat. Wildfire can trigger seed germination. Coyote tobacco is a larval host plant for hawkmoths, which are also one of its pollinators. When hawkmoth caterpillars damage start to damage the plant, coyote tobacco can switch from blooming at night to blooming in the morning in order to attract hummingbirds and bees as pollinators instead of hawkmoths.
Coyote tobacco (Nicotiana attenuata) seed packets contain approximately 2400 seeds.
Seed Germination Instructions
No pretreatment required. Sow outside, or start in a greenhouse in spring.
