Everything about Nicotiana totally explained
Nicotiana refers to a
genus of
herbs and
shrubs of the
nightshade family (
Solanaceae) indigenous to
North and
South America,
Australia, south west
Africa and the
South Pacific. Various
Nicotiana species, commonly referred to as
tobacco plants, are cultivated and grown to produce
tobacco. Of all
Nicotiana species,
Cultivated Tobacco (
N. tabacum) is the most widely planted and is grown worldwide for production of tobacco leaf for
cigarettes. The genus is named in honor of
Jean Nicot, who in 1561 was the first to present tobacco to the French royal court.
Many plants contain
nicotine, a powerful
neurotoxin that's particularly harmful to
insects. However, tobaccos contain a higher concentration of nicotine than most other plants, and indeed nicotine was named after the tobacco plant. In addition, unlike many other Solanaceae they don't contain
tropane alkaloids which are often poisonous to humans and other animals. Tobacco leaves and sometimes stems are commonly used as
entheogens and for pleasure. The leaves are processed into forms where they can be smoked, chewed, and sniffed.
In many
industrialized countries, nicotine is among the most significant
addictive substances and a cause for medical concern; see
Health effects of tobacco smoking and
Smokeless tobacco#Health issues for details. By contrast, in preindustrial societies, tobacco smoking was almost invariably considered a sacred or ritual activity and tightly regulated. Smoking a
Native American "
peace pipe" would invariably be preceded by paying due homage to the relevant deities and spirits and sacrificing some of the tobacco. Other cultures such as the
Aztecs, while smoking tobacco more casually, were nonetheless aware of the fact that it's a potent and addictive drug. See also
Religious views on smoking. Native peoples also used tobacco in other ways as an entheogen (for example as an additive to
ayahuasca), and occasionally in
ethnoveterinary medicine, for example to rid
livestock of
parasites.
Cultivation
Tobacco plants were long grown and/or harvested by local peoples. The
Takelma for example utilized
N. bigelovii, and tobacco was very important to the
Aztecs who considered it one of the
sacred herbs of
Xochipilli, the "Flower Prince" (also known as
Macuilxochitl, "Five Flowers"), a deity of
agriculture and especially
psychoactive plants. Indeed, the origins of
Cultivated Tobacco (
N. tabacum) are obscure; it isn't known from the wild and appears to be a
hybrid between
Woodland Tobacco (
N. sylvestris),
N. tomentosiformis and another species (perhaps
N. otophora), deliberately selected by humans a long time ago.
In modern tobacco farming,
Nicotiana seeds are scattered onto the surface of the
soil, as their
germination is activated by light. In colonial
Virginia, seedbeds were fertilized with wood ash or animal
manure (frequently powdered
horse manure). Seedbeds were then covered with branches to protect the young plants from frost
damage. These plants were left to grow until around April. Today, in the
United States, unlike other countries,
Nicotiana is often fertilized with the mineral
apatite in order to partially starve the plant for
nitrogen, which changes the taste of the tobacco.
After the plants have reached a certain height, they're transplanted into fields. This was originally done by making a relatively large hole in the tilled earth with a tobacco peg, then placing the small plant in the hole. Various mechanical tobacco planters were invented throughout the late 19th and early 20th century to automate this process, making a hole, fertilizing it, and guiding a plant into the hole with one motion.
Many species of
Nicotiana are also grown as
ornamental plants. They are popular
vespertines, their sweet-smelling flowers opening in the evening to be visited by
hawkmoths and other
pollinators. Several tobacco plants have been used as
model organisms in
genetics.
Tobacco BY-2 cells, derived from
N. tabacum cultivar 'Bright Yellow-2', are among the most important research tools in plant
cytology. Tobacco has played a pioneering role in
callus culture research and the elucidation of the mechanism by which
kinetin works, laying the groundwork for modern agricultural
biotechnology.
Ecology, pests and diseases
Despite containing enough nicotine and/or other compounds such as
germacrene and
anabasine and other
piperidine alkaloids (varying between species) to deter most
herbivores, a number of such animals have
evolved the ability to feed on
Nicotiana species without being harmed. Nonetheless, tobacco is unpalatable to many species and therefore some tobacco plants (chiefly
Tree Tobacco,
N. glauca) have become established as
invasive weeds in some places.
In the
nineteenth century, young tobacco plantings came under increasing attack from flea
beetles (
Epitrix cucumeris and/or
Epitrix pubescens), causing destruction of half the United States tobacco crop in
1876. In the years afterward, many experiments were attempted and discussed to control the flea beetle. By
1880 it was discovered that replacing the branches with a frame covered by thin fabric would effectively protect plants from the beetle. This practice spread until it became ubiquitous in the
1890s.
Lepidoptera whose
caterpillars feed on
Nicotiana include:
Selected species
Nicotiana acuminata
Nicotiana africana
Nicotiana alata – Winged Tobacco, Jasmine Tobacco, tanbaku (Persian)
Nicotiana attenuata
Nicotiana benthamiana
Nicotiana bigelovii
Nicotiana clevelandii
Nicotiana debneyi
Nicotiana × digluta
Nicotiana excelsior
Nicotiana exigua
Nicotiana forgetiana
Nicotiana glauca – Tree Tobacco, Brazilian Tree Tobacco, Shrub Tobacco, Mustard Tree
Nicotiana glutinosa
Nicotiana kawakamii
Nicotiana knightiana
Nicotiana langsdorffii
Nicotiana longiflora – Longflower Tobacco
Nicotiana obtusifolia (= N. trigonophylla
Get more info on 'Nicotiana'.
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