Nicotiana longiflora
Nicotiana tabacum
long-flower tobacco
cultivated tobacco
single or with few spreading lateral branches, 5–8(–10) dm, sparsely pubescent, usually not viscid, tuberculate.
single, usually unbranched, woody at base (hollow), 10–30 dm, viscid-pubescent.
sessile;
blade ovate to lanceolate or linear, 1–5 cm, progressively smaller and more linear towards inflorescence, base auriculate, apex acute to attenuate, surfaces coarsely viscid-pubescent.
sessile;
blade elliptic to lanceolate, 5–50 cm, becoming smaller distally, base tapering or decurrent, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces viscid-pubescent.
false racemes, occasionally with few weak branches, not leafy; flowering crepuscular.
branched with distinct central axis (branches themselves branched and shorter than central axis), usually somewhat leafy; flowering diurnal.
0.5–1.3 cm.
(spreading), 0.5–1.5 cm.
calyx green or occasionally somewhat purplish-tinged, 1.5–2.5 cm, tube elliptic, 10-ribbed, sinus membranes long and transparent, minutely pubescent, sometimes viscid, lobes usually spreading, subulate, ± equal, equaling tube;
corolla straight, 4–12 cm (excluding limb), puberulent externally, tube and throat not well differentiated, straight, white or often grayish white, 2 mm diam. at base, gradually widening and somewhat broader in distal 1/4, abruptly swollen to 6 mm diam. just below constricted mouth, glabrous or minutely puberulent internally, limb spreading, sometimes with purplish-gray veins abaxially, adaxially white or ivory, stellate, 2–5 cm diam., lobes triangular to deltate, acute;
stamens inserted in upper part of tube just below mouth, included;
filaments unequal, free for at least some of their length (anthers not sessile),four 0.1–0.8 cm (2 of these slightly longer), 1 shorter, ca. 0.1 cm, glabrous;
style straight, just exceeding stamens, exserted from corolla mouth.
calyx uniformly green, 1.2–2.5 cm, viscid-pubescent, lobes long-triangular, equaling or shorter than tube, unequal;
corolla straight or strongly curved in distal 1/2, 3–5 cm (excluding limb), viscid-puberulent externally, tube pale greenish cream to pink or red, slightly curved or straight, 0.7–1.5 cm × 2–2.5 mm, widening to throat 25–40 × 5 mm, somewhat dilated distally, glabrous or minutely puberulent internally, limb spreading to somewhat reflexed, pale pink to reddish pink, occasionally white, pentagonal, 2–3 cm diam., lobes pale pink to reddish pink, occasionally white, acute;
stamens inserted near base of throat;
filaments unequal, 4 slightly exserted, 3–5 cm, 1 included, 3 cm (shorter than the other 4), pubescent on proximal 1/2;
style straight or slightly curved, ± equaling longer stamens.
not tearing at scarious sinuses, nearly covering capsule, lobe tips spreading.
often tearing at sinuses (especially in cultivars), covering 1/2 mature capsule.
ovoid, 1.1–1.6 cm.
narrowly ellipsoid, ovoid, or globose, 1.2–2 cm.
0.5 mm.
0.5 mm.
leaves sessile;
blade elliptic to oblanceolate, 10–30(–50) cm, base narrowed and winged, surfaces coarsely viscid-pubescent.
= 20.
= 48.
Nicotiana longiflora
Nicotiana tabacum
Nicotiana longiflora is a relatively rare weed along rivers and in waste places. It could be confused with N. plumbaginifolia, with which it is sympatric along the Gulf Coast, but differs from that species in its much larger flowers and its strongly 10-ribbed calyx. In a vegetative state, the two species are very difficult to distinguish.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Nicotiana tabacum is the principal tobacco of commerce and was the mainstay of the economy of the Chesapeake Bay region during Colonial times. It replaced N. rustica as the main cultivated species in North America in the early 1600s. Most herbarium specimens of N. tabacum come from gardens or research greenhouses, but it occasionally escapes and is an ephemeral weed where the climate is mild. Commercial tobacco cultivars are grown for their large leaves, and flowers are removed to allow further growth of top leaves before harvest, but if marginal individuals are not harvested and are collected, they could be mistaken for naturalized weeds. Nicotiana tabacum is widely cultivated across North America.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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