Next to the most common grains and pulses, probably no plant is so widely and generally cultivated as tobacco. In what country or at what date its use originated has little to do with us from a practical point of view, though interesting enough as a subject for the student of ethnography and natural history. Suffice it to say that it has been grown and smoked since pre-historic times in many tropical and sub-tropical countries, and has assumed an importance in modern daily life only surpassed by a few prominent food plants and cotton.

This long-continued and widespread cultivation has helped to produce local varieties or races of the plant which have sometimes been mistaken for distinct species, and caused a multiplication of scientific names almost bewildering. The following epitome comprehends the species and varieties of Nicotiana possessing interest for the cultivator:—

I. N. Tabacum macrophylla [latifolia, lattissima, gigantea]—Maryland tobacco. Of this, there are two sub-species—(1) Stalkless Maryland, of the following varieties: (a) N. macrophylla ovata—short-leaved Maryland, producing a good smoking-tobacco, (b) N. macrophylla longifolia—long-leaved Maryland, yielding a good smoking-tobacco, and excellent wrappers for cigars, (c) N. macrophylla pandurata—broad-leaved, or Amersfort, much cultivated in Germany and Holland, a heavy cropper, and especially adapted for the manufacture of good snuff; (2) Stalked Maryland, of the following varieties: (a) N. macrophylla alata, (b) N. macrophylla cordata—heart-shaped Maryland, producing a very fine leaf, from which probably the finest Turkish is obtained. Cuban and Manilla are now attributed to this group.

II. N. Tabacum angustifolia—Virginian tobacco. Of this, there are two sub-species—(1) Stalkless Virginian of the following varieties: (a) N. angustifolia acuminata, grown in Germany for snuff, seldom for smoking, (b) N. angustifolia lanceolata, affords snuff, (c) N. angustifolia pendulifolia, another snuff tobacco, (d) N. angustifolia latifolia—broad-leaved Virginian, used chiefly for snuff, (e) N. angustifolia undulata—wave-like Virginian, matures quickly, (f) N. angustifolia pandurata, furnishes good leaves for smoking, produces heavily, and is much grown in Germany, and said to be grown at the Pruth as “tempyki,” and highly esteemed there; (2) Stalked Virginian, of the following varieties: (a) N. angustifolia alata, (b) N. angustifolia lanceolata [N. fructiosa], growing to a height of 8 ft., (c) N. angustifolia oblonga, (d) N. angustifolia cordata—E. Indian, producing heavily in good soil, and well adapted for snuff, but not for smoking. Latakia and Turkish are now accredited to N. Tabacum.

III. N. rustica.rustica.—Common, Hungarian, or Turkish tobacco. Of this, there are two varieties: (a) N. rustica cordata—large-leaved Hungarian, Brazilian, Turkish, Asiatic, furnishing leaves for smoking; (b) N. rustica ovata—small-leaved Hungarian, affords fine aromatic leaves for smoking, but the yield is small. Until quite recently, Latakia, Turkish, and Manilla tobaccos were referred to this species; Latakia is now proved to belong to N. Tabacum, and Manilla is said to be absolutely identical with Cuban, which latter is now ascribed to N. Tabacum macrophylla.

IV. N. crispa.—This species is much grown in Syria, Calabria, and Central Asia, and furnishes leaves for the celebrated cigars of the Levant.

V. N. persica.—Hitherto supposed to be a distinct species, affording the Shiraz tobacco, but now proved to be only a form of N. Tabacum.

VI. N. repanda.—A Mexican plant, with small foliage. Long thought to be a distinct species peculiar to Cuba, but none such is now to be found in Cuba, whether wild or cultivated, and all the Cuban tobacco is now obtained from N. Tabacum macrophyllum.

Among the many other forms interesting only to the botanist or horticulturist, the principal are N. paniculata, N. glutinosa, N. glauca, attaining a height of 18 ft., and N. clevelandii, exceedingly strong, quite recently discovered in California, and supposed to have been used by the early natives of that country.

Thus the bulk of the best tobaccos of the world is afforded by the old well-known species Nicotiana Tabacum.

A good idea of the foliage and inflorescence of commonly cultivated tobaccos may be gained from a study of the accompanying illustrations.

Fig. 1 is a Cuban tobacco, and much grown on the continent of Europe, notably in Holland, Germany, and Switzerland, and there known as goundie, from the name of an American consul who introduced the plant into Germany in 1848. It has a broad yet somewhat pointed leaf, with the ribs not arranged in pairs; it is fine, soft, thin, and esteemed for smoking in pipes and for wrappers of cigars.

One variety of the Maryland plant is shown in Fig. 2. The leaves spring from a tall stem at considerable intervals, and are broad and rounded at the end. This kind is valued for cigar-wrappers, and assumes a fine light brown colour when well cured.

A broad-leaved Cuban or Maryland growth long naturalized in Germany, and now familiar as Amersfort, is represented in Fig. 3. It is distinguished by unusual length of leaf accompanied by a corresponding narrowness. A stem and flower are shown at a, a leaf at b, a flower in section at c, a capsule at d, a seed at e, and a cross-section of a leaflet at f.

These three examples represent the most successful kinds grown in Europe and at the same time some of the most marked diversities of form of leaf.