Nicotiana alata
1. Nicotiana alata Link et Otto (syn.: N. affinis T. Moore) (S-Am.) – A rare and always ephemeral alien. First recorded in Salzinnes (Namur) in 1954, subsequently in 1968 in Turnhout and in 1971 in Hoboken. More regularly seen since 2001, for instance in Boom, Gent, Harelbeke, etc. All records are from dumps or levelled soil. Nicotiana alata is usually found in small numbers. However, a large population of +100 specimens (intermixed with Nicotiana forgetiana) was observed on a demolition site in Gentbrugge (Gent) in 2001 (obviously from an exposed seedbank; see also Salpiglossis sinuata).
Nicotiana alata superficially resembles N. sylvestris (both species with large, white corollas). However, in Nicotiana alata leaves are clearly decurrent, the inflorescence racemose and corollas are widest near apex. It is also somehow reminiscent of Nicotiana tabacum but the latter species never has purely white corollas and the stamens are inserted in a different way.
A hybrid with Nicotiana forgetiana (N. xsanderae) is often cultivated and has also been recorded as an escape (see below).
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Selected literature:
Daly K. (1959) On the origin and history of the red-flowered tobacco, Nicotiana x Sanderae. Baileya 7: 37.