Nicotiana

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Nicotiana (Template:IPAc-en Template:Refn Template:Refn<ref>Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607</ref>) is a genus of herbaceous plants and shrubs in the family Solanaceae that is indigenous to the Americas, Australia, Southwestern Africa and the South Pacific. Various Nicotiana species, commonly referred to as tobacco plants, are cultivated as ornamental garden plants. N. tabacum is grown worldwide for the cultivation of tobacco leaves that are used for manufacturing and producing tobacco products, including cigars, cigarillos, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco, snuff, snus, etc.

Taxonomy

Species

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The 79 accepted and known species include:<ref name=powo>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=FG>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Nicotiana acuminata (Graham) Hook. – manyflower tobacco or many-flowered tobacco<ref name="knapp2004">Knapp et al. (2004) Nomenclatural changes and a new sectional classification in Nicotiana (Solanaceae) Taxon. 53 (1):73–82.</ref>
Nicotiana africana Merxm.<ref name="knapp2004" />
Nicotiana alata Link & Otto – jasmine tobacco, sweet tobacco, winged tobacco, Persian tobacco, tanbaku (in Persian)<ref name="knapp2004" />
Nicotiana attenuata Torrey ex S. Watson – coyote tobacco<ref name="knapp2004" />
Nicotiana benthamiana Domin<ref name="knapp2004" /> – benth, benthi
Nicotiana clevelandii A. Gray<ref name="knapp2004" /> – Cleveland's tobacco
Nicotiana glauca Graham – tree tobacco, Brazilian tree tobacco, shrub tobacco, wild tobacco, tobacco plant, tobacco bush, tobacco tree, mustard tree<ref name="knapp2004" />
Nicotiana glutinosa L.
Nicotiana langsdorffii Weinm.<ref name="knapp2004" /> – Langsdorff's tobacco
Nicotiana longiflora Cav.<ref name="knapp2004" /> – longflower tobacco or long-flowered tobacco
Nicotiana mutabilis Stehmann & Semir<ref name=powo /> – color-changing tobacco, flowering tobacco
Nicotiana occidentalis H.-M. Wheeler<ref name="knapp2004" /> – native tobacco
Nicotiana obtusifolia M. Martens & Galeotti – desert tobacco, punche, "tabaquillo"<ref name="knapp2004" />
Nicotiana otophora Griseb.<ref name="knapp2004" />
Nicotiana plumbaginifolia Viv. – Tex-Mex tobacco
Nicotiana quadrivalvis Pursh – Indian tobacco
Nicotiana rustica L. – Aztec tobacco, strong tobacco, mapacho<ref name="knapp2004" />
Nicotiana suaveolens Lehm. – Australian tobacco<ref name="knapp2004" />
Nicotiana sylvestris Speg. & Comes – woodland tobacco, flowering tobacco, South American tobacco<ref name="knapp2004" />
Nicotiana tabacum L. – common tobacco, domesticated tobacco, cultivated tobacco, commercial tobacco (grown for the production of cigars, cigarillos, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco, snuff, snus, etc.)<ref name="knapp2004" />
Nicotiana tomentosiformis Goodsp.<ref name="knapp2004" />

Manmade hybrids

Nicotiana × didepta – N. forsteri × N. tabacum<ref name="Ann Bot 2003">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Nicotiana × digluta – N. glutinosa × N. tabacum<ref>Clausen, R.E. (1928) Interspecific hybridization in Nicotiana. VII. The cytology of hybrids of the synthetic species, digluta, with its parents, glutinosa and tabacum. Univ. Cal. Pub. Botany. 11(10):177-211.</ref>
Nicotiana × sanderae Hort. ex Wats. – N. alata × N. forgetiana<ref name="Ann Bot 2003"/>

Formerly placed here

Petunia axillaris (Lam.) Britton et al. (as N. axillaris Lam.) – large white petunia, wild white petunia, white moon petunia<ref name="GRINSpecies">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Etymology

The genus Nicotiana (from which the word nicotine is derived) was named in honor of Jean Nicot, French ambassador to Portugal, who in 1559 sent samples as a medicine to the court of Catherine de' Medici.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Ecology

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Despite containing enough nicotine and/or other compounds such as germacrene and anabasine and other pyridine alkaloids (varying between species) to deter most herbivores,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> a number of such animals have evolved the ability to feed on Nicotiana species without being harmed.

Some species (e.g. tree tobacco (N. glauca)) have become established as invasive species in some places.<ref name=bionet-eafrinet>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the 19th century, young tobacco plantings came under increasing attack from flea beetles (particularly the potato flea beetle (Epitrix cucumeris) and/or Epitrix pubescens), causing the destruction of half the United States tobacco crop in 1876. In the years afterward, many experiments were attempted and discussed to control the potato flea beetle. By 1880, it was discovered that covering young plants with a frame covered with thin fabric (instead of with branches, as had previously been used for frost control) would effectively protect the plants from the beetle. This practice spread until it became ubiquitous in the 1890s.Template:Citation needed

Tobacco, alongside its related products, can be infested by parasites such as the tobacco beetle (Lasioderma serricorne) and the tobacco moth (Ephestia elutella), which are the most widespread and damaging pests in the tobacco industry.<ref name="Ryan 1995">Template:Cite book</ref> Infestation can range from the tobacco cultivated in the fields to the leaves used for manufacturing cigars, cigarillos, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco, snuff, snus, etc.<ref name="Ryan 1995"/> Both the grubs of Lasioderma serricorne and the caterpillars of Ephestia elutella are considered major pests.<ref name="Ryan 1995"/>

Other moths whose caterpillars feed on Nicotiana include:

Black cutworm, greasy cutworm, or floodplain cutworm (as a caterpillar), dark sword-grass or ipsilon dart (as a moth) (Agrotis ipsilon)
Turnip moth (Agrotis segetum)
Mouse moth (Amphipyra tragopoginis)
Clover cutworm (as a caterpillar), nutmeg (as a moth) (Hadula trifolii or Anarta trifolii)
Endoclita excrescens
Hawaiian tobacco hornworm or Hawaiian tomato hornworm (as a caterpillar), Blackburn's sphinx moth (as a moth) (Manduca blackburni)
Tobacco hornworm or Goliath worm (as a caterpillar), tobacco hawkmoth or Carolina sphinx moth (as a moth) (Manduca sexta)
Tomato hornworm (as a caterpillar), five-spotted hawkmoth (as a moth) (Manduca quinquemaculata)
Cabbage moth (Mamestra brassicae)
Angle shades (Phlogophora meticulosa)
Setaceous Hebrew character (Xestia c-nigrum)
Cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni)<ref>United States. Agricultural Research Service (1984), Suppression and Management of Cabbage Looper Populations, U.S. States Dept. of Agriculture, retrieved 25 September 2017</ref>
Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda)
Tobacco spitworm (as a caterpillar), potato tuber moth (as a moth) (Phthorimaea operculella)<ref name=Hayden-eal-2013>Template:Cite web</ref>
South American tomato pinworm, tomato pinworm or tomato leafminer (as a caterpillar), South American tomato moth (as a moth) (Tuta absoluta)<ref name=Hayden-eal-2013/>
Eggplant leafroller moth or nightshade leaftier (Lineodes integra)<ref name=Hayden-eal-2013/>
Eggplant webworm moth (Rhectocraspeda periusalis)<ref name=Hayden-eal-2013/>

These are mainly Noctuidae, but they also comprise Sphingidae, Gelechiidae, and Crambidae.

Cultivation

Several species of Nicotiana, such as N. sylvestris,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> N. alata 'Lime Green'<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=rhsnicalat/> and N. langsdorffii are grown as ornamental plants, often under the name of flowering tobacco.<ref name=FG/><ref name=NGB>Template:Cite web</ref> They are popular vespertines (evening bloomers); their sweet-smelling flowers opening in the evening to be visited by hawkmoths and other pollinators. In temperate climates, they behave as annuals (hardiness 9a–11).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The hybrid cultivar 'Lime Green'<ref name=rhsnicalat>Template:Cite web</ref> has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Garden varieties are derived from N. alata (e.g., the 'Niki' and 'Saratoga' series) and more recently from Nicotiana × sanderae (e.g., the 'Perfume' and 'Domino' series).<ref name=NGB/>

The tobacco budworm (Chloridea virescens) has proved to be a massive "pest" of many species in the genus, and has resisted many attempts at management.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>