246 MR. W. T. T. DYER OK THE PLANT 



Ceyptonemiace^j. 



Gymnogongrus dilatatus, Turner 1 



A few young and barren, apparently this species 



On the Plant yielding Latakia Tobacco. 

 By W. T. Thiseltok Dyer, M.A., B.Sc, F.L.S. 



[Read April 20, 187G.] 



During the course of last year my attention was attracted by 

 a plant labelled "Latakia Tobacco," in the collection of Economic 

 Plants at Kew. It supplied the materials for the figure published 

 by Dr. Hooker in the Botanical Magazine, tab. 6207, under the 

 name of Nicotiana Tabacum, var. fruticosa* I found, however, 

 that there was some uncertainty as to whether it really repre- 

 sented the kind of tobacco cultivated at Latakia. The plant was 

 raised from seed sent from Jamaica, and purporting to have been 

 the produce of authentic Latakia seed received from Kew. 

 There was, however, some possibility that in Jamaica this and 

 other kinds of tobacco seed might have become confused together. 



In all accounts which I have seen of the sources of tobacco, 

 that of Latakia is stated to be produced by Nico tiana rustica*, a 

 species largely cultivated on the coast of the Mediterranean, and 

 which undoubtedly yields Turkish tobacco. It is extremely dis- 

 tinct from N. Tabacim, and is known at once by its greenish 

 yellow flowers with a rather short cylindrical corolla-tube and 

 roundish obtuse limb-segments. Turkish tobacco, as imported 

 into this country, consists of the leaves, which are comparatively 

 small in size, ovate, and distinctly stalked. They are done up 

 into small parcels, tied together by their stalks. Their colour is 

 a pale brownish -yellow. 



On examining the samples of Latakia tobacco in the Kew 

 Museum, I was surprised to find that authentic commercial 

 examples consisted of compressed bundles of short flowering 

 shoots with flowers and capsulesf. These are tied up with 

 string (probably of goat's hair), and have a very dark and grimy 



* See Pereiras ■ Materia Medica,' vol. ii. p. 1421 ; Fliickiger and Hanbury's 

 1 Pharmacologia/ p. 422. 



v One of these biddies bore the note, " Guibili finest, sown for Viceroy." 



