Nicotiana tabacum
Nicotiana clevelandii
cultivated tobacco
Cleveland's tobacco
single, usually unbranched, woody at base (hollow), 10–30 dm, viscid-pubescent.
single or with few lateral branches (several robust basal branches on older plants), 2–6 dm, villous and viscid-pubescent.
sessile;
blade elliptic to lanceolate, 5–50 cm, becoming smaller distally, base tapering or decurrent, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces viscid-pubescent.
sessile to short-petiolate;
blade ovate, 1–6 cm, becoming smaller distally, (fleshy), apex acute, surfaces scabrous with persistent swollen bases of short, patent trichomes.
branched with distinct central axis (branches themselves branched and shorter than central axis), usually somewhat leafy; flowering diurnal.
unbranched, few-flowered, densely leafy; flowering crepuscular.
(spreading), 0.5–1.5 cm.
0.2–0.5 cm.
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.
calyx uniformly green with poorly developed membranous sinuses, 0.8–1 cm, viscid-pubescent, lobes subulate, unequal (4 as long as tube, 1 longer);
corolla straight, 1.4–2 cm (excluding limb), minutely viscid-pubescent externally, tube white or tinged with purple externally, 0.3–0.4 cm × 1 mm, widening to throat 10–17 × 2–4 mm (oblique, often bent at junction of tube and throat), glabrous or minutely puberulent within, limb spreading, white, pentagonal to stellate, 0.6–0.8(–1) cm diam., lobes broadly triangular, unequal, acute;
stamens inserted at base of throat, extending nearly to corolla mouth;
filaments 1–1.5 cm, unequal, 1 much shorter (curved), glabrous;
style straight, just exceeding 4 long stamens.
often tearing at sinuses (especially in cultivars), covering 1/2 mature capsule.
not tearing at sinuses, covering capsule.
narrowly ellipsoid, ovoid, or globose, 1.2–2 cm.
ovoid, 0.4–0.6 cm.
0.5 mm.
0.5 mm.
leaves: petiole length 1/8–1/2 blade;
blade broadly elliptic to rhombic-ovate, 6–20 cm, surfaces softly viscid-pubescent.
= 48.
= 48.
Nicotiana tabacum
Nicotiana clevelandii
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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