2140 



NEVIUSIA 



NICOTIANA 



2477. Nicotiana alala var. 

 grandiflora. 



on SjuhI Mt. A von- ilititiiu'l ponus allied to Kerria and 

 Rubns. wi-U distiiipuislied b>- its upotalous fls. 



The snow \vn>:ith is ji low or mediinn - sized shrub 

 with slender wand-like branehes, bripht fi'i'pn R*""- 

 erally ovate leaves and white feathery llowers in elns- 

 tors arranpeil wreath-like along the liranclies. It does 

 not seem iierfeclly hardy 

 nortliof l'liiladel])hiathou{;li 

 it ran be f;rown as far north 

 as Massaehnsetts in shel- 

 tered loealities; and it pro- 

 diiees flowers on the young 

 growth, if partly killed baek. 

 Even .South it 

 does not de- 

 velop in every 

 situation its 

 full beauty 

 which earned 

 it the name 

 "snow wreath" 

 its flowers 

 are hkel^ to 

 be greenish or 

 dirty white in- 

 stead of snowj'. 

 It is therefore not a i)lant 

 to be recommended for 

 general planting. If 

 forced in the greenhouse 

 the flowers come out 

 always pure white, and 

 covered with its feathery 

 blos.soms it is a:i ob- 

 ject of great beauty. It 

 likes a loamy and well- 

 drained soil anil a warm 

 sheltered position. 

 Propagation is by greenwood cuttings uniler gUiss, 

 and by seeds. 



alabamensis, Gray. Shrub, 3-6 ft.: branches terete: 

 Ivs. ovate to oblong-ovate, acute or acuminate, doubly 

 serrate, minutely pubescent while young, finally nearly 

 glabrous, 1-3 in. long: fls. in clusters of 3-8, rarely 

 solitarv, about 1 in. across, .lune, July. B.M. 6806. 

 G.C. 111.3.1:229; 41:41. G.M. .53:315. G. 26:13.5. 



Alfred Rehder. 



NICANDRA (Xicander, poet of Colophon, wrote on 

 plants about IfX) B.C.). S)ti. PhysaUxka. Snlanacex. 

 One Peruvian herb differing from Physalis chiefly in 

 the 3-.5-loPuled ovarj' and dry rather than fleshy fr., 

 and in the larger and more showy fls., of which the 

 corolla is nearly entire. Lately a second species has 

 been described, perhaps a variant. 



Physalddes, Pers. (Alropa physalbdes, Linn. Physa- 

 lotim perwianum, Kuntze. A^. physakrlde.i, Gaertn.). 

 Known as .Apple-of-Pero, a strong spreading annual, 

 3-4 ft. high, grown for the showy blue fls. and odd frs.: 

 glabrous: Ivs. elliptic or ellijitic-ovate, sinuate and 

 toothed, narrowed into a prominc-nt petiole: fls. soli- 

 tarj' in the axils, on recurving pedicels, an inch or more 

 across, shaped like a potato flower, the corofla blue or 

 blui.sh: fr. a thin-walled and nearly or quite dry berry, 

 inclosed in an enlarged, strongly .S-winged calyx. B.M. 

 24.58.^The apple-of-Peru is an old-f;ishioned garden 

 annual, now rarely .seen. It has escaped from cult. 

 in some places in the U. S., and it Ls now widely dis- 

 tributed in the tropics. It is often confounded with the 

 ground cherry and alkekengi, which arc species of 

 Phy.sali8. 



.V, moMc«a, Andr6._ Vigorous branched animal, Klabroua or 

 sornfrtirri'^ the Ivh. hairy on uppfir side: ivs. HubtriiinKuIar, tiie 

 r^uline reaching: 10 in. long and .5 in. broa'l, coarsely tootlied or 

 \<At*A: fiii, B/^litary. axillary and »horl-pedicclled; calyx large, darlc 

 violet on lo»-er half, the loheH cordate; corolla violet-blue above 

 and whit« on loner half, earnpanulate, to 1 H in. broad. Probably 



S. Ainer. H.II. 10()t):20S, — Distingui.slieil from N. Phyatiloiits par- 

 ticularly by the prominently blue corolla and calyx and Himilar color 

 on the sts., petioles and peduncles, and the scattered eolortnl hairs 

 on upper surface of Ivs. T H H 



NICOTIANA (uam.'d for Jean Nicot, 1530-1600, of 



Nismcs in Languedoc, cons\il from the King of France 

 to Lisbon, I'ortugai, in lotil), who oblaiiicd tobacco from 

 a merchant of I'landcrs, Bclgiuiii, which he presented 

 to the court of Portugal aii<l al.so, on his return to 

 I'Vance, to the (iuccu Calheriiie de Me<lici). SolariaccT. 

 Herbaceous annuals, perennials or rarely shrubby or 

 arborescent, comprising several stately ])lants, valued 

 for their rapid growth and large foliage; other .sjiecies 

 produce sho«T flowers, anti are popular flower-garden 

 subjects; one is the tobaeco. 



Herbs, mostly viscid-jwbescent, of strong odor, pos- 

 sessing narcotic ))oisonous properties: Ivs. alternate, 

 never coinpound, entire or undulate, mostly sessile or 

 nearly so by a tapering base: fls. hermaphrodite, often 

 regular, long-tubular, mostly opening at night and 

 most fragrant then, in terminal racemes, panicles or 

 thyrses; calyx usually persistent, inclosing the fr., tubu- 

 lar-campanulate or ovoid, 5-parted: corolla salverfomi, 

 funnelfonu, or tubular-swollen; limb plicate in the bud. 

 5-lobed; stamens 5, inserted on the tube, unequal or 

 nearly equal, included; filaments straight, anthers longi- 

 tuilinally dehiscent, ovate or oblong; ovary 2-celled, or 

 4-ccllcd in one species; ovules many; placenta axillary; 

 style simjile; stigma capitate: fr. a 2-4-ceUed caps., but 

 tisually splitting into 4 to several valves; seeds numer- 

 ous, minute, oblong, somewhat kidney-form, roughened 

 or pitted. — A genus of about 45 species and 54 subspe- 

 cies, mostly of Tro]3. Amer., with a few from N. and S. 

 Amer. and 1 from Austral. 



Latest publications: Comes, "Monographic du genre 

 Nicotiana," 1899; Splendore, "Sinossi descrittiva ed 

 iconographia dei semi del genrere Nicotiana," 1906; 

 Setchell, "Studies in Nicotiana," 1912; "Tobacco- 

 culture," United States Department of Agriculture, 

 Farmers' Bulletin No. 571, 1914. 



Nicotianas are easily cultivated, but in northern 

 latitudes require a hot ex-jiosure and a deep rich loose 

 loamy soil, rich in lime and potash, both of which may 

 be supplied from wood-ashes. As the .seeds grow slowly 

 in cool weather, they should be started in early spring 

 under glass and kept 

 moist and warm. F'or 

 tobacco, in districts 

 farther north, hot- 

 beds will secure rapid 

 growth, but in other 

 localities coldframes 

 with a southern ex- 

 posure should be 

 used. The .soil should 

 be a loose loam of 

 high fertility, and 

 thoroughly drained. 

 In the fall, forty 

 pounds of lime and 

 two hundred pounds 

 of stable-manure to 

 100 square feet of 

 bed should be turned 

 under. In the spring, 

 about two weeks be- 

 fore sowing the seed, 

 twenty pounds of 

 cotttmseed -meal or 

 castor pomat^e, one 

 pound of acid phos- 

 phate, and one-half 



pound of carbonate ^478. Nicotiana alat, 



or .sulfate of JjOtash ^^^ grandifiora, com- 

 to 100 square ft^et monly known a 

 of bed-area should be affinis. (x'l 



N. 



