450 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Nicotiana continued. 



rarely glabrous, snb-arborescent shrubs; they are mostly 

 natives of America, a few are indigenous to the Pacific 

 Islands and Australasia, and some are not unfrequently 

 cultivated in various parts of the globe. Flowers white, 

 yellowish, greenish, or purplish, disposed in terminal 

 panicles, or in elongated, unilateral, bracteate or ebrac- 

 teate racemes, or the lower ones solitary in the axils; 

 calyx five-cleft ; corolla funnel- or salver-shaped, sometimes 

 with a very long tube, the limb five-lobed. Leaves un- 

 divided, entire or rarely sinuated. Nicotianas thrive best 

 in rich, deep soil, and in a rather moist situation, where 

 they will grow with great rapidity. Seeds should be 

 sown in February, in gentle heat, and the young plants 

 pricked out when large enough. They should be placed 

 in the open air early in June. The species are employed 

 with great advantage in sub-tropical gardening. N. ajjvnis 

 succeeds admirably and flowers freely in 6in. pots, and 

 thus forms a useful subject for greenhouse decoration. 

 Its flowers are partially closed by day, but open at 

 about 6 p.m., and emit a powerful perfume in the 

 evening and night. It is also suited, on this latter ac- 

 count, for planting, in the summer time, in beds that 

 are situated near walks. 



FIG. 689. PLANT (EXCEPTING RADICAL LEAVES) AND DETACHED 

 FLOWER. OF NICOTIANA ACUTIFLORA. 



N. acuminate (taper-pointed). /., corolla green-lined, about Sin 

 long ; limb spreading ; panicles few-flowered. Summer. I. broad- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, undulated, stalked, entire, sometimes 

 sub-cordate. Stem branched, h. 3ft. Valparaiso, &c. Herb. 

 (B. M. 2919.) SY.N. Petunia, acuminata. 



N. acntiflora (acute-flowered).* /., corolla pure white, 4in. long 

 cylindrical ; lobes acute ; cal> x pubescent, about Jin. long. From 



Nicotiana continued. 



June until frost. I., radical ones oblong ; upper ones distant, 

 auriculate at base. Stem erect, 1ft. to 2ft. high. Brazil. 



A handsome annual herb, well suited for decorative purposes. 



FIG. 690. FLOWERS OF NICOTIANA SUAVEOLENS. 



U. affinls (related).* JL deliciously night-scented ; corolla with a 

 slender tube Sin. to 3Jin. long ; limb 3in. across, consisting 

 of five ovate, blunt segments, white inside, greenish outside. 

 I., lower ones numerous, about 6in. long, ovate, obtuse, narrowed 

 into a winged petiole ; upper ones smaller, more decidedly am- 

 plexicaul, broad, h. 2ft. to 3ft. Half-hardy annual herb. A 



splendid conservatory plant, hairy all over, except the inside 

 of the corolla. (G. C. n. s., xvi. 14L) 



FIG. 691. PORTION OF INFLORESCENCE OF NICOTIANA TABACUM. 



N. fragrans (fragrant), fl. almost white, large, terminal, pendent, 

 very fragrant ; corolla with a very long tube and a broad limb ; 

 panicle large, terminal, the branches bearing glomerated racemes. 

 Summer. 1., radical ones large, broadly ovate, spathulate ; cauline 

 ones few, distant, linear-sp.-ithulate, thick and fleshy, h. 3ft. to 

 4ft. Isle of Pines. Plant hairy, except inside of corolla limb 

 Cool greenhouse herb. (B. M. 4865.) 



N. glauca (glaucous).* ft. yellow, covered with soft down ; corolla 

 having the tube slightly curved, the throat slightly inflated, the 

 mouth contracted, the limb small, cup-shaped, with short acute 

 segments; panicles terminal. August to October. I. unequally 

 cordate-ovate, naked, h. 10ft. to 20ft. Buenos Ayres, 1827. Shrub, 

 glaucous in every part, arboreous, erect, branched. (B. M. 2837.) 



