Nicotiana tabacum
Nicotiana obtusifolia
cultivated tobacco
desert tobacco
single, usually unbranched, woody at base (hollow), 10–30 dm, viscid-pubescent.
branched from base, (slender, brittle), 5–10 dm, viscid-tomentose.
sessile;
blade elliptic to lanceolate, 5–50 cm, becoming smaller distally, base tapering or decurrent, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces viscid-pubescent.
petiole short and winged or leaves sessile;
proximal blades oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic, distal blades panduriform to trigonate, 5–20 cm, smaller very near inflorescence, base somewhat clasping, apex acute or acuminate, surfaces densely viscid-pubescent.
branched with distinct central axis (branches themselves branched and shorter than central axis), usually somewhat leafy; flowering diurnal.
secund false racemes, occasionally few-branched, somewhat leafy; flowering diurnal.
(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 green, cup-shaped, 10-ribbed, 0.8–2 cm, with minute membranous sinuses, pubescent and somewhat rough, lobes triangular to long-triangular, ± unequal, as long or longer than tube, tips slightly recurved;
corolla straight, 1.2–3.5 cm (excluding limb), viscid-pubescent externally, tube gray-green, cream, or ± yellowish cream, 0.3–0.6 cm × 2–4 mm, widening to throat 6–12 × 5 mm, glabrous or minutely puberulent within, limb slightly reflexed to spreading, cream or whitish green, pentagonal, 0.6–8 cm diam., lobes broadly triangular and rounded apically, equal;
stamens inserted at base of throat, included;
filaments unequal, 4 straight, 1.2–3.4 cm, sometimes kneed, extending to corolla mouth, 1 shorter, 1–2 cm, not kneed, curved away from corolla, all slightly pubescent just above insertion point;
style straight, just exceeding longest stamens.
often tearing at sinuses (especially in cultivars), covering 1/2 mature capsule.
not tearing at sinuses, covering lower 2/3 of capsule.
narrowly ellipsoid, ovoid, or globose, 1.2–2 cm.
broadly ovoid (acute), 0.8–1.1 cm.
0.5 mm.
0.5 mm.
= 48.
= 24.
Nicotiana tabacum
Nicotiana obtusifolia
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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