1088 



NICOTIANA 



NICOTIANA 



frost when mature. Nicotianas are well adapted for 

 culture in pots or tubs, and are then fine plants for 

 summer porch decoration. p y? BARCLAY. 



A. Fls. yellow or yellowish white: Ivs. distinctly 



petioled. 

 B. Plant glabrous and glaucous, becoming woody (N. 



rustica is not to be sought here). 

 glauca, Grab. Becoming 20 ft. high and tree-like in 

 its native place (Argentina), glabrous, glaucous-blue all 

 over and sometimes developing purplish tints: Ivs. 

 large, ovate, sometimes subcordate, more or less repand, 

 the petiole conspicuous : fls. in a loose panicle, tubular 

 and constricted below the very short limb, curved, 

 1-2 in. long, greenish at first but becoming yellow, soft- 

 pubescent on the outside. B.M. 2837. Not uncommon 

 in cult, for its striking glaucous-blue foliage and stately 

 habit; also run wild in Texas and S. Calif. Usually 

 does not bloom in the northern states. Easily grown 

 from seeds. 



BB. Plant pilose, "herbaceous or half shrubby. 

 wigandioides, Koch & Fint. Tall -growing, reaching 

 6 and 7 ft. high, with a straight central shaft and bear- 

 ing very large and heavy foliage: Ivs. ovate and pointed 

 or sometimes acuminate, often undulate-margined but 

 not toothed, hairy: fls. yellowish, short, in drooping 

 panicles. Colombia. A very striking plant, sometimes 

 used for bold subtropical effects. 



AA. Fls. white, long -tubular: Ivs. mostly not petioled 

 and more or less clasping: annual and perennial 

 herbs. In some of the following species the fls. 

 are green or purplish on the outside. 



B. Corolla-lobes acute. 



alata, Link & Otto (If. afflnis, Hort., under which 

 name it is universally known in gardens). Figs. 1487, 

 1488. Slender but strong-growing, 2-3% ft. tall, viscid- 

 pubescent: Ivs. lance-obovate or ovate-elliptic, becoming 



1488. Nicotiana alata (X 1-5). 

 Commonly known as N. affinis. 



small and narrow above, clasping and sometimes de- 

 current, entire or remotely repand-dentate : fls. remote 

 in a wand-like raceme, spreading, the very slender tube 

 5-6 in. long, the limb oblique and 2 in. or more across, 

 the narrow - pointed lobes unequal. Braz. G.C. II. 



16:141. Gn. 34, p. 520; 42, p. 126; 50, p. 212; 56, p. 384 

 Gng. 5:182. B.R. 19:1592 (as JV. Persica). A de- 

 servedly popular plant, blooming freely all the season, - 

 until killed by frost. It is well to plant it in a place 

 which is protected from strong winds. It is apparently 

 perennial, but is treated as a tender or half-hardy an- 

 nual. It self -sows, and often maintains itself from year 

 to year in the Middle States and South. In the warmer 

 parts, the roots live over winter with a little protec- 

 tion. Fall-sown seedlings make excellent pot-plants for 

 the window. The fls. open at night-fall, but close in the 

 daytime. At night they are very fragrant. During the 

 last ten years the plant has become very popular. 



Var. decurrens (N. decurrens, Hort.) is lower, branch- 

 ing near the base, very floriferous. 



sylyestris, Spegaz. Fig. 1489. Lvs. larger and better 

 than in N. a la ta, rugose and veiny, more prominently 

 undulate, the stem well furnished near the ground : fls. 

 large, hanging in whorls or fascicles in a heavy large 

 panicle, in shape like those of J\~. alata but the limb less 

 oblique and the tube more swollen, and not closing in 

 the morning or on cloudy days. Argentina. Gt. 47, p. 

 130. G.C. III. 26:357. -One of the novelties of 1899 and 

 1900. 



longiflora, Cav. Erect, 2-3 ft., slender, the prominent 

 foliage radical : Ivs. oval-lanceolate to lanceolate, promi- 

 nently undulate, pointed: fls. 4 in. long, the tube green 

 or purplish, but the limb (lobes about % in- long) white 

 at least inside, borne in simple racemes. Argentina. 

 Little knawn in cult., being inferior to iV. alata. The 

 flowers open late in the day. Perennial, but annual in 

 gardens and in northern countries. 



BB. Corolla-lobes obtuse or rounded. 



suaveolens, Lehm. (.ZV. undulata. Vent. JV. longiflora^ 

 var. undtilata, Voss). Variable: 1-2 ft., annual or bi- 

 ennial, usually viscid: lower Ivs. long-stalked and ovate 

 or spatulate, the upper ones narrow and sessile and 

 sometimes clasping, all undulate-margined as a rule: 

 fls. in loose terminal racemes, on slender pedicels, sal- 

 ver-shaped, the narrow cylindrical tube about 2 in. long, 

 the circular limb 1 in. or less across, pure white (or 

 greenish outside). Australia. B.M. 673. Gn. 21, p. 291.- 

 The broad lobes usually overlap, so that the limb often 

 appears as if entire. Sweet-scented at night. Plant 

 pubescent or glabrous. Not rare in gardens. It is said 

 that it will endure moderate shade. 



noctifldra, Hook. (N. longifldra, var. noctiflora, Voss). 

 Very like the last, and perhaps a geographical form of 

 it: Ivs. lanceolate-undulate: fls. often purplish outside 

 but white within, the spreading lobes notched or emar- 

 ginate: plant very viscid. Argentina. B.M. 2785. A 

 night bloomer, like the last. There is a var. albifldra, 

 with pure white fls. 



AAA. Fls. distinctly colored (usually with shades of 

 red), the tube relatively broad or even inflated: 

 annual and perennial herbs. 

 B. Lvs. stalked. 



rustica, Linn., was cult, for Tobacco by the Indians- 

 and is run wild in many places, but its nativity is un- 

 known (probably indigenous to the Old World, accord- 

 ing to Gray) : annual, usually not over 3 ft. tall, viscid- 

 pubescent: Ivs. large, ovate and obtuse: fls. yellowish 

 or greenish, 1 in. or less long, the base narrow, tube 

 thereafter inflated, orifice contracted, the lobes short 

 and rounded. The fls. are open by day. Inflorescence 

 paniculate. 



BB. Lvs. sessile and decurrent. 



Tabacum,Linn. TOBACCO. Tall, strong-growing strik- 

 ing plant, 3-5 ft., annual, usually glutinous: Ivs. mostly 

 ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate-pointed: fls. 2 in. 

 long, rose or purplish, in a large nearly naked panicle, 

 the tube swollen upwards and the spreading lobes 

 pointed. S. Amer. Cult, from earliest times by the 

 Indians, and occasionally run wild. Its commercial 

 cultivation for Tobacco is an agricultural subject, and ; 

 therefore is not discussed in this work. It is a striking 

 plant in the garden. There are several forms cult, for 

 ornament, those with large red fls. being most known. 

 N. grandifloriim, N. purpiireum. etc., are names given to 

 these forms. The fls. are diurnal. See Fig. 1077, p. 757, 



