2. Petunia xpunctata Paxt. (syn.: P. xhybrida Vilm., P. xatkinsiana D. Don; P. axillaris (Lam.) Britton, Sterns et Pogg. x P. integrifolia s.l.) (Hort.) – Much cultivated as an ornamental and regularly seen as an ephemeral alien on dumps, demolition sites and waste land. Apparently first recorded on a dump in Namur in 1954, possibly neglected before.
This taxon is exceedingly variable especially with regard to corolla colour and size. One of its parents, Petunia axillaris, also with large corollas might have been overlooked. In this species the corolla tube is narrowly cylindrical (hardly widened towards apex) and the corolla is always white.
Segatto & al. (2014) suggested that Petunia interior T. Ando & G. Hashim., one of the microspecies of the P. integrifolia group, probably is the purple ancestor of this hybrid.
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Selected literature:
Segatto A.L.A., Ramos-Fregonezi A.M.C., Bonatto S.L.. & Freitas L.B. (2014) Molecular insights into the purple-flowered ancestor of garden petunias. Am. J. Bot. 101(1): 119-127.