Petunia is a 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 pétun, '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). Taxonomy. Petunia is a genus in the family Solanaceae, subfamily Petunioideae. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petunia