NICOTIANA TABACUM, Unn.' 



IVide Plate XVI.] 



English, tobacco; Yeenacular, desi, tambaku, surthi (when dried for chewing). 



Natural order Solanacece, iriho Cestruiece. A largo rather coarse viscid annual. Stem erect, 

 4-6 ft, high, not branching, round, solid. Leaves numerous, alternate, the lower ones large, occa- 

 sionally attaining the length of 2 ft., stallvcd, oblong or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, upper ones 

 smaller, amplexicaul, obovate or fiddle-shaped, acute, entire, wavy, bright green but paler on the 

 under side ; mid-rib and veins prominent beneath and whitish. Flowers in terminal rounded or 

 oval panicles, shortly stalked ; bracts linear. Calyx f in. long, tubular, campanulate ; teeth 5, 

 unequal, lanceolate acuminate, about half the length of the tube. Corolla about 2 in. in length, 

 curved, constricted near the middle, pale greenish-yellow, glandular hairy outside, smooth within ; 

 limb, 5-lobed, salver-shaped, lobes induplicate in bud, acuminate, rosy- red. Stamens 5, nearly 

 equal, four of them reaching to the top of the corolla-tube and attached to it for ^-rd their length, 

 the fifth shorter ; anthers deeply 2-lobed, cells distinct. Ovaiy 2-celled, smooth, conical ; style 

 slender equalling the stamens ; stigma 2-lobed. Capsule ovate, a little longer than the calyx ; pla- 

 centas axile, thick and spongy. Seeds numeroits, very small, of irregular shape, pale brown ; testa 

 reticulate. 



NICOTIANA RUSTICA, LinnJ 



[Fide Plate XVII.] 



Yernaculae, calcuttia, tambaku, surthi (when dried for chewuig). 



A very different looking plant from the preceding. The following brief description shows its 

 chief distinctive characters. 



Whole plant viscid-pubescent. Stems 2-4 ft., branching from near the base. Leaves stalked, 

 thick, very prominently veined ; lower ones large, on petioles 2-3 in. long, broadly ovate or sub- 

 orbicular, obtuse, sub-cordate, entire, somewhat puckered, glossy ; upper smaller and narrower, 

 rounded at the base and shortly stalked. Calyx broadly campanulate ; segments triangular ovate, 

 ^-^ the tube. Corolla about f in., broad," cylindrical, constricted near the base, greenish-yellow, 

 viscid-hairy ; segments broad, obtuse or bluntly mucronate. Stamens included, attached to the 

 constricted part of the corolla- tube. Style a little longer than the stamens. Capsule globose. 

 Seeds oblong, a little larger than those of JY. Tahacum. 



The tobacco plant is believed to have not been introduced into India until tliG 

 17th century, although its cultivation to a greater or less extent is now found in almost 

 every part of the country. In all probability it reached India from Syria, Persia, or 



* References;— Bcntlcy and Trimcn Med. PI. 191 ; Powell Punj. Prod, 3G4 ; Druiy Useful Pi. 311 ; Voigt Ilortus 

 Suburb. Ciilc. 510. 



t (V. rustica, L.) DC. Prod. 5G3 ; Geogr. Botnniquc 81!). 



