Nicotiana tabacum
Nicotiana glauca
cultivated tobacco
tree tobacco
single, usually unbranched, woody at base (hollow), 10–30 dm, viscid-pubescent.
usually branched near base, occasionally with distinct trunk (branches drooping), 10–60(–100) dm, glabrous, somewhat glaucous.
sessile;
blade elliptic to lanceolate, 5–50 cm, becoming smaller distally, base tapering or decurrent, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces viscid-pubescent.
petiole length 1/2 blade (not winged);
blade ovate to lanceolate, 5–25 cm, base acute or cordate, apex rounded, (rubbery), surfaces glabrous, glaucous.
branched with distinct central axis (branches themselves branched and shorter than central axis), usually somewhat leafy; flowering diurnal.
branched, not leafy; flowering diurnal.
(spreading), 0.5–1.5 cm.
0.3–1 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, (evenly cylindric), 1–1.5 cm, without membranous sinuses, glabrous or minutely pubescent, lobes sharply triangular, equal, much shorter than tube;
corolla straight, 2.5–4.5 cm (excluding limb), glabrous or finely pubescent externally, tube bright yellow to greenish yellow, (cylindric to clavate, slightly constricted apically), 0.5–0.8 cm × 3 mm, widening slightly to throat 1.5–4 cm × 6–8 mm, glabrous within, limb assurgent, greenish yellow or bright green (usually distinct color from tube in young flowers), turning yellow and same color as tube with age, circular or pentagonal, 0.6–0.8 cm diam., lobes rounded, broadly triangular, equal;
stamens inserted at base of throat, extending to corolla mouth;
filaments subequal 2.5–4.5 cm, (geniculate at base), glabrous;
style straight, exceeding stamens and exserted from corolla mouth.
often tearing at sinuses (especially in cultivars), covering 1/2 mature capsule.
not tearing along sinuses, covering mature capsule.
narrowly ellipsoid, ovoid, or globose, 1.2–2 cm.
ovoid, 0.7–1.5 cm.
0.5 mm.
0.5 mm.
trees or shrubs.
= 48.
= 24.
Nicotiana tabacum
Nicotiana glauca
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.)
Nicotiana glauca is registered as an invasive plant in the United States (www.invasives.org). It can form monodominant stands due to high seed set and germination success. It was originally introduced from Argentina to Mexico, thence to the United States and worldwide (T. H. Goodspeed 1954). Siphaulax glabra Rafinesque is an illegitimate, superfluous name for this species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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