SOLANACEAE

NIGHTSHADE FAMILY

Michael Nee

Annual to shrub
Leaves generally simple, generally alternate, generally petioled; stipules 0; blade entire to deeply lobed
Inflorescence various
Flower bisexual; calyx lobes generally 5; corolla ± radial, cylindric to rotate, lobes generally 5; stamens 5, alternate corolla lobes; ovary superior, generally 2-chambered, style 1
Fruit: berry or capsule, 2–5-chambered
Genera in family: 75 genera, 3000 species: worldwide, especially ± tropical; many alien weeds in CA; many cultivated for food, drugs, or ornamental (potato, tomato, peppers, tobacco, petunia); many TOXIC.

NICOTIANA

TOBACCO

Annual to small tree
Leaves entire
Inflorescence: raceme or panicle, terminal
Flower: calyx 5-lobed, ± enlarging, not fully enclosing fruit; corolla generally radial, generally funnel-shaped to salverform; stamens 5, equal or 1 smaller
Fruit: capsule
Seeds many, minute, angled
Species in genus: ± 60 species: generally Am; N. tabacum L. widely cultivated.
Etymology: (J. Nicot, 1530–1600, said to have introduced tobacco to Eur)
Reference: [Goodspeed 1954 Chron Bot 16:1–536]
Seriously TOXIC to livestock.

Native

N. quadrivalvis Pursh

Annual 3–20 dm, glandular
Leaves 4–15 cm; lower leaves short-petioled, elliptic to ovate; upper leaves sessile, reduced
Inflorescence: bracts < 35 mm, ± linear
Flower: calyx 15–20 mm, 10-ridged, lobes narrowly lanceolate, 1 sometimes > tube; corolla ± salverform, white with green or violet tinge, tube 25–50 mm, limb 20–50 mm wide; stamens unequal, filaments attached at different levels above middle of tube
Fruit 15–20 mm
Ecology: Open, well-drained washes, slopes
Elevation: < 1500 m.
Bioregional distribution: California Floristic Province, uncommon in East of Sierra Nevada, Mojave Desert
Distribution outside California: to Washington, c US
Flowering time: May–Oct
Synonyms: N. bigelovii (Torr.) S. Watson
Plants from SCo with corolla limb > 50 mm wide have been called N. b var. wallacei A. Gray. Widely cultivated by w Am native people
Horticultural information: DRN, SUN: 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.