Common name: Petunia
Petunia x atkinsiana (Sweet) D.Don ex W.H.Baxter APNI* Synonyms: Petunia x hybrida Vilm. APNI*
Description: Annual or short-lived perennial herb, usually 30–80 cm high, branches often decumbent, glandular-hairy.
Leaves broadly ovate to elliptical, 2.5–6 cm long, 1.5–4.5 cm wide, apex acute to rounded; lower leaves alternate, petiolate; upper leaves sessile, decreasing in size on flowering stems.
Pedicels 2–4 cm long. Calyx 10–20 mm long; lobes narrowly elliptical to subfoliaceous. Corolla white, pink or purple, sometimes multicoloured; tube funnel-shaped, slightly inflated, 3–4(-6) cm long; limb rotate to broad-stellate, 4–10 cm diam., single or double; lobes rounded. Stamens inserted in the lower half of corolla tube, filaments 15–18 mm long; anthers 2–3 mm long. Style 25–30 mm long, erect.
Capsule 10–15 mm long, ellipsoidal, not or shortly exceeded by calyx lobes.
Flowering: spring–summer.
Distribution and occurrence: Ornamental, occasionally naturalised.
NSW subdivisions: *NC, ?CC, *LHI
Other Australian states: *W.A.
A popular garden plant of hybrid origin, probably involving Petunia axillaris, Petunia inflata and Petunia violacea.
Text by Peter G. Wilson
Taxon concept: Symon (1981); Green, Fl. Australia vol. 49 (1994).
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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