Datura meteloides Potato Family
SACRED DATURA
[71.] Tree tobacco
Sometimes growing to a height of 10 or 12 feet, the graceful swaying branches of tree tobacco bear at their ends clusters of tubular, greenish-yellow blossoms 2 to 3 inches long. The leaves contain the alkaloid anabasine, which is poisonous to livestock. Leaves of the closely related and much smaller desert tobacco, Nicotiana trigonophylla, contain nicotine and have long been smoked by desert Indians. The plant is still so used on ceremonial occasions. Nicotiana was named for Jean Nicot, French ambassador to Portugal, who introduced tobacco to France about 1560.
Nicotiana glauca Potato Family
TREE TOBACCO
[72.] Ceniza
Although restricted in its range to the Chihuahuan Desert, ceniza, sometimes called silverleaf, is so spectacular when in blossom that it invariably attracts attention and arouses interest. The small, abundant, ash-gray leaves give this 3- to 4-foot shrub a distinguished appearance throughout the year, but when it suddenly bursts into bloom, usually in September, it becomes a thing of rare beauty. It is so sensitive to moisture that it may blossom a few hours after a soaking rain, which gives rise to the popular belief that it can forecast wet weather and in consequence it is sometimes called “barometer bush.”