Petunia

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Petunia

Petunia is a trumpet shaped, widely-cultivated genus

Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
of flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s of South American origin, in the family Solanaceae

Solanaceae

The Solanaceae is a family of flowering plants, that contains a number of important agricultural plants as well as many toxic plants. The name of the family comes from the Latin Solanum "the nightshade plant", but the further etymology of that word is unclear....
. The popular flower got its name from French, which took the word petun 'tobacco' from a Tupi-Guarani language. Most of the varieties seen in gardens are hybrids (Petunia x hybrida).

The origin of P. x hybrida is thought to be by hybridization between P. axillaris (the large white or night-scented petunia) and P.

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Encyclopedia

Petunia is a trumpet shaped, widely-cultivated genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
of flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s of South American origin, in the family Solanaceae
Solanaceae

The Solanaceae is a family of flowering plants, that contains a number of important agricultural plants as well as many toxic plants. The name of the family comes from the Latin Solanum "the nightshade plant", but the further etymology of that word is unclear....
. The popular flower got its name from French, which took the word petun 'tobacco' from a Tupi-Guarani language. Most of the varieties seen in gardens are hybrids (Petunia x hybrida).

The origin of P. x hybrida is thought to be by hybridization between P. axillaris (the large white or night-scented petunia) and P. integrifolia (the violet-flowered petunia). P. axillaris bears night-fragrant, buff-white blossoms with long, thin tubes and somewhat flattened openings. The species was first sent from South America to Paris in 1823. P. integrifolia has a somewhat weedy habit, spreading stems with upright tips, and small lavender to purple flowers. It was discovered in South America by the explorer James Tweedie, after whom the genus Tweedia
Tweedia

Tweedia is a genus of one species of straggling Perennial plant grown for its clear pale blue, star shaped flowers, which are long lasting and cut well....
is named, who sent specimens to the Glasgow Botanical Garden in 1831. Many open-pollinated species are also gaining popularity in the home garden. A wide range of flower colors, sizes, and plant architectures are available in both the hybrid and open-pollinated species.

Some botanists place the plants of the genus Calibrachoa
Calibrachoa

Calibrachoa is a genus of plants in the Solanaceae family. They are weak evergreen Perennial plant with a sprawling habit, and they have small petunia-type flowers....
in the genus Petunia. Botanically speaking, tobacco, tomato, potato, and petunia are all in the family Solanaceae.

Petunias are generally insect pollinated with the exception of P. exserta, which is a rare, red-flowered, hummingbird pollinated species. Most petunias are diploid with 14 chromosomes and are infertile with other petunia species.

The foliage of Petunias is sometimes eaten by the larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
e of some Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is an order of insect that includes moths and butterfly. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterfly, skipper , and Hedylidae....
species including Dot Moth
Dot Moth

The Dot Moth is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found throughout Europe apart from the south-east.This is a very distinctive species with very dark brown, almost black, forewings marked with a large white glossary of Lepidopteran terms from which the species gets its common name....
and Hummingbird hawk moth.