Tex-mex Tobacco

Nicotiana plumbaginifolia

Found in disturbed uplands, especially over limestone. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

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Not native

Not native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 18%

Soil moisture: Somewhat dry to moist

No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…

At a glance

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 2 Florida counties.

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

52CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL

Genus host records with ranges including FL · Nicotiana

Agrotis gladiariaSwordsman Dart, Clay-Backed Cut-Worm
Agrotis ipsilonIpsilon Dart, Black Cutworm, Greasy Cutworm
Agrotis malefidaRascal Dart, Pale-Sided Cut-Worm, Shagreened Cut-Worm
Agrotis venerabilisVenerable Dart, Dusky Cut-Worm
Agrotis vetustaOld Man Dart
Anagrapha falciferaCelery Looper Moth
Anicla infectaGreen Cutworm Moth
Anomis erosaYellow Scallop Moth, Mallow Caterpillar
Anomis flavaTropical Anomis Moth
Apantesis phylliraPhyllira Tiger Moth

Show all 52

Argyrogramma verrucaGolden Looper
Autoplusia egenaBean-Leaf Skeletonizer Moth
Chloridea subflexaSubflexus Straw, Groundcherry Sun Moth
Chloridea virescensTobacco Budworm Moth
Choephora fungorumBent-Line Dart
Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
Cryptothelea gloveriiOrange Bagworm
Ctenoplusia oxygrammaSharp-Stigma Looper Moth
Estigmene acreaSalt Marsh Moth, Acrea Moth
Feltia herilisMaster's Dart
Feltia jaculiferaDingy Cutworm
Feltia repletaReplete Dart
Feltia subterraneaSubterranean Dart, Granulate Cutworm
Glyphodes sibillalisMulberry Leaftier
Hahncappsia mancalisCommon Hahncappsia
Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
Lacinipolia meditataThe Thinker
Lacinipolia renigeraBristly Ground Cat, Bristly Cutworm Moth, Kidney Spotted "Mamestra"
Lineodes integraEggplant Leafroller
Manduca quinquemaculatusFive-Spotted Hawkmoth, Tomato Hornworm
Manduca sextaCarolina Sphinx, Tomatoe Sphinx, Tobacco Hornworm
Megalographa bilobaBilobed Looper Moth
Neodactria caliginosellusCorn Webworm, Corn Root Webworm, Sooty Crambus
Orthodes majusculaRustic Quaker, Rustic Groundcat
Paratrea plebejaPlebeian Sphinx, Trumpet Vine Sphinx
Pediasia trisectaSod Webworm Moth, Larger Sod Webworm
Protolampra brunneicollisBrown-Collared Dart
Rachiplusia ouGray Looper
Rhectocraspeda periusalisEggplant Webworm
Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
Spodoptera albulaWhite-Spotted Armyworm, Gray-Streaked Armyworm
Spodoptera dolichosSweetpotato Armyworm, Dolichos Armyworm, Large Cotton Armyworm
Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
Sunira bicoloragoBicolored Sallow
Trichoplusia niNi Moth, Cabbage Looper Moth
Trichordestra legitimaStriped Garden Caterpillar Moth
Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite
Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
Tulsa finitella

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

—BeesSoutheastern regional records

—Specialist beesPollen specialists

2BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Nicotiana

Alectoris chukarChukar
Zenaida asiaticaWhite-winged Dove

Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family: Solanaceae

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Conservation status

Florida rank	SNA
Global rank	Not available
FL status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source

Native alternatives

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