26 THE CAPSULE AND SEED. 



flowers than European tobaccos or those of Africa or Asia. 

 The color of the flowers remain the same whether cultivated 

 in one country or another while the leaves may grow larger 

 or smaller according to the system of cultivation adopted. 

 Those varieties of the plant with heart-shaped leaves have 

 paniculated flowers with unequal cups. The flower stems on 

 the American varieties are much longer than those of Euro- 

 pean tobaccos and also larger. The season has much to do 

 with the size of the flowers ; as if very dry they are usually 

 smaller and not as numerous as if grown under more favorable 

 circumstances. 



THE CAPSULE. 



As soon as the flowers drop from the fruit bud the 

 capsules grow very rapidly until they have attained full 

 size which occurs only in those plants which have been 

 left for seed and remain untopped. When topped they are 

 not usually full grown as some growers top the plants when 

 just coming into blossom, while others prefer to top the 

 plants when in full bloom and others still when the blossoms 

 begin to fall. The fruit is described by Wheeler " as a capsule 

 of a nearly oval figure. There is a line on each side of it, 

 and it contains two cells, and opens at the top. The recepta- 

 cles one of a half-oval figure, punctuated and affixed to the sep- 

 arating body. The seeds are numerous, kidney-shaped, and 

 rugose." 



Most growers of the plant would describe the fruit bud as 

 follows : In form resembling an acorn though more pointed 

 at the top ; in some species, of a dark brown in others of a 

 light brown color, containing two cells filled with seeds 

 similar in shape to the fruit bud, but not rugose as described 

 by some botanists. Some writers state that each cell contains 

 about one thousand seeds. The fruit buds of Connecticut, 

 Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio Tobacco as well as of most of 

 the varieties grown within the limits of the United States are 

 much larger than those of Havana, Yara, Syrian, and 

 numerous other species of the plant, while the color of these 

 last named varieties is a lighter shade of brown. The color 



