Large White Petunia

Description

Petunia axillaris, the large white petunia, wild white petunia or white moon petunia, is an annual herbaceous plant in the family Solanaceae, genus Petunia. It is native to temperate South America. The plant's flowers, the only white ones found in the Petunia genus, are 3 to 7 cm long. The commonly-grown garden petunia is a hybrid of P. axillaris and P. integrifolia. P. axillaris has three subspecies: P. a. axillaris, P. a. parodii, and P. a. subandina. P. a. axillaris and P. a. parodii are found in flat parts of the Pampas. Meanwhile, P. a. subandina is found in highlands near the Andes. Petunia is genus of 20 species of flowering plants of South American origin. The popular flower of the same name derived its epithet from the French, which took the word petun, meaning "tobacco," from a Tupi–Guarani language. A tender perennial, most of the varieties seen in gardens are hybrids (Petunia × atkinsiana, also known as Petunia × hybrida). Petunia is a genus in the family Solanaceae, subfamily Petunioideae. Well known members of Solanaceae in other subfamilies include tobacco (subfamily Nicotianoideae), and the cape gooseberry, tomato, potato, deadly nightshade and chili pepper (subfamily Solanoideae). Some botanists place the plants of the genus Calibrachoa in the genus Petunia, but this is not accepted by others. Petchoa is a hybrid genus derived from crossing Calibrachoa and Petunia.