Tobacco

Family Solanaceae. Name: after Jean Nicot, the French envoy to Portugal, who in the 16th century brought tobacco to France.

Description: the history of tobacco began a very long time ago, possibly as early as the Paleozoic era. This hypothesis was put forward by the Swiss geobotanist de Candolle, based on data on the distribution in nature of members of the genus tobacco, or Nicotiana. The genus Nicotiana belongs to the family Solanaceae and includes about 70 species of annual herbs, perennial herbaceous plants and shrubs. Most species occur in South America, 9 species are found in Mexico and North America, and 15 species in Australia and on some islands in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean. According to many geologists, these land areas in the Paleozoic era formed a single continent in the southern hemisphere.

Annual, less often perennial herbaceous or semi-shrubby plants with sticky, glandular pubescence. Stems erect, branched. Leaves alternate, entire or wavy-toothed, mostly sessile or nearly sessile; basal leaves gathered in a rosette. Flowers regular, long-tubular, opening mostly at night when they are most fragrant, clustered in panicle- or raceme-like inflorescences. Fruit a many-seeded, ovoid capsule. Seeds small, brown, retaining viability for up to 8 years; 6,500–8,500 seeds per gram.

It is known that roughly three thousand years before Columbus discovered America, the indigenous peoples were already cultivating several species of tobacco, including common tobacco and makhorka. The natives used tobacco for various purposes and in different forms: they inhaled it, chewed it, but most often smoked it, wrapping dry leaves in a maize husk as a cigar or packing tobacco into pipes. Both primitive cigars and pipes were called "tabaco" by the natives, and the plant itself was called "cohoba", "petum". With the discovery of America a new stage in the history of tobacco began. In 1560 Jean Nicot, the French envoy to the Portuguese court, brought to France the seeds of the overseas plant which he called the "queen's herb" and which was initially used to treat skin diseases. Inhaling tobacco smoke was also tried as a treatment for asthma. But by 1585 Europeans had already learned to smoke. By 1605–1610 tobacco was known on all continents of the globe. Academician V.L. Komarov wrote: "There is no other plant that has so rapidly conquered the world and entered common use as tobacco." Botanists immortalized the name Jean Nicot by giving tobacco the Latin name "Nicotiana". Under this same name the plant entered Carl Linnaeus's system. For the species name of common tobacco Linnaeus used the indigenous word "tabaco". There is, however, another version of the origin of the species name—from the island of Tabagos in the Caribbean Sea. Much later—in 1883—another representative of the genus tobacco appeared in Europe: winged tobacco, or Athenian (Nicotiana alata), better known as fragrant tobacco. Later still, forest tobacco (N. sylvestris) and Langsdorff's tobacco (N. langsdorffii) appeared in European flowerbeds.

Of decorative importance are: winged tobacco, or fragrant (N. alata), Langsdorff's tobacco (N. langsdorffii), forest tobacco (N. sylvestris), Sander's tobacco (N. х sanderae). Not of decorative interest: common, or Virginian tobacco (N. tabacum) and village tobacco, or makhorka (Nicotiana rustica).

Location: prefer sunny places

Soil: require moderately fertile and moist soils. Likes moisture, but fairly drought-tolerant.

Care: undemanding in cultivation. However, it should be remembered that Tobacco leaves have a fairly large surface area and evaporate a large amount of water per day, so all tobaccos are moisture-loving. For example, growing 1 kg of dried makhorka requires up to 500 liters of water. Tobaccos can withstand light frosts.

Propagation: Good results are given by early spring and late-autumn sowings into the ground. Seedlings appear in 10–12 days. The first pricking out is done into boxes, the second into 11 cm pots at 4 plants per pot. Fairly cold-hardy, but planted into open ground after the last spring frosts, keeping a distance of 20–30 cm between plants.

Another curious recommendation for cultivating fragrant tobacco, reported in manuals and magazines and tried in practice, is as follows: in autumn you can dig up the plants, pot them, move them to a bright windowsill, cut off the flower stalks with faded flowers, and water moderately. Then the plants bloom in January–February under indoor conditions, which is especially pleasant when snowstorms rage outside or the weather is damp and raw. There are cases when breeders have kept plants in this way for 10–12 years.

Uses: in flowerbeds and groups. Cut flowers last several days in a vase.