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Nicotiana suaveolens [Austral Tobacco]


DaveO

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Oldfield, D. 2014. Nicotiana suaveolens Lehm. (Solanaceae) Austral Tobacco. Flowers photographed in visible and ultraviolet light. http://www.ultraviol...ustral-tobacco/

 

 

Maldon, Victoria, Australia

8 January 2014

Australian Native Wildflower as Garden Specimen

 

Synonyms

Nicotiana undulata Vent.

Nicotiana australasiaea R.Br.

Nicotiana exigua H.-M. Wheeler

 

Comment

Nicotiana suaveolens (meaning sweetly scented) is one of about 18 Nicotiana species endemic to Australia. The flowers are interesting as they close in sunlight and only open in very dull daylight or during the night. These photographs were taken in a shaded location about 8.15 am Eastern Summer Time. This species occurs over a wide area of Victoria in a range of sandy or rocky soils along watercourses and on rocky slopes. It is an annual or short-lived perennial herb. Aborigines found many species valuable as chewing tobacco before the arrival of Europeans.

 

Visible Light: Pentax K-5 Full Spectrum Modification, Nikon Rayfact PF10545 MF-UV 105 mm f/4.5 lens, Metz 15 MS-1 flash, 1/180 s @ f/16 ISO 200, B+W UV/IR Cut Filter.

post-28-0-20401700-1389228517.jpg

Image Reference: DO52001

 

Ultraviolet Light: Pentax K-5 Full Spectrum Modification, Nikon Rayfact PF10545 MF-UV 105 mm f/4.5 lens, Nikon SB-14 flash, 1/180s @ f/16 ISO 200, Baader UV-Pass Filter.

post-28-0-01598900-1389228535.jpg

Image Reference: DO52004

 

 

 

 

References:

Elliott, W.R. and Jones, D.L. Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants suitable for cultivation, Lothian 1990, Volume 7, p. 36.

 

 

 

Atlas of Living Australia http://bie.ala.org.a...iana+suaveolens

 

 

Published 9 January 2014

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Cool !! A night-blooming, moth-pollinated flower.

 

From the paper referenced below:

  • Both N. sylvestris and N. suaveolens exhibit floral traits putatively associated with hawkmoth pollination (Grant, 1983).

  • The fragrances of N. sylvestris and N. suaveolens ... are rich in caryophyllene, benzenoid esters and benzenoid alcohols, all of which are emitted by many other hawkmoth-pollinated plants (Knudsen and Tollsten,1993).

  • The fragrances of hawkmoth-pollinated species contained nitrogenous compounds, benzenoid esters and/orterpenoid alcohols, and these compounds were absent in hummingbird-pollinated species.

  • Even less can be said about [pollinator data for] the Australian N. suaveolens, whose relatively short-tubed flowers suggest a spectrum of short-tongued (3–5 cm) hawkmoths, such as Hippotion celerio, Theretra spp. and Hyles lineata livornicoides (Pittaway, 1993) and other insects as pollinators.

 

Raguso, Levin, Foose, Holmberg & McDade (2003) Fragrance chemistry, nocturnal rhythms and pollination ‘‘syndromes’’ in Nicotiana. Phytochemistry 63, 265-284. https://www.amherst.edu/media/view/134628/original/nicotianaphytochem.pdf

 

That paper has a lot of organic chemistry in it. :rolleyes: (Most all of which I have forgotten !!)

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Thank you for the reference which I will read at leisure (it's too hot today and for the next week to do much else). Elliott and Jones do not list N. sylvestris as occurring in Australia but they do note that N. suaveolens was introduced into England in 1800, so you may find it in the US. I wonder if Raguso et al actually saw N. suaveolens as my ruler says that the petals are about 5 mm across, the tube outside diameter is about 3 mm and the tube length is about 30 mm. Since all the action, in a pollinating sense from the above images, seems to occur at the entrance to the tube I don't see the relevance of the comment about tongue length.

It is probably fair to say that not much is known about pollinators of Australian natives.

Cheers,

Dave

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  • 1 year later...

Another set taken recently with UVIVFL added

8 October 2015

 

Visible Light: Nikon D750 Full Spectrum Modification, Nikon Rayfact PF10545 MF-UV 105 mm f/4.5 lens, Metz 15 MS-1 flash, 1/200 s @ f/16 ISO 200, Baader UV/IR Cut Filter.

post-28-0-35508100-1445743784.jpg

Image Reference: DO61707

 

Ultraviolet Light: Nikon D750 Full Spectrum Modification, Nikon Rayfact PF10545 MF-UV 105 mm f/4.5 lens, Nissin Di866 Mark II flash, 1/200s @ f/16 ISO 200, Baader UV-Pass Filter.

post-28-0-92497900-1445743809.jpg

Image Reference: DO61710

 

Ultraviolet Induced Visible Fluorescence: Nikon D750 Full Spectrum Modification, Nikon Rayfact PF10545 MF-UV 105 mm f/4.5 lens with Baader UV/IR Cut Filter, Nichia NCSU033A UV-LED with Baader UV-Pass Filter, 1.0 s @ f/11 ISO 3200.

post-28-0-24879100-1445743837.jpg

Image Reference: DO61719

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