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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.

Introduced

N. sylvestris Speg. & Comes

Perennial 1–1.5 dm, glandular-puberulent
Leaves 5–30 cm; lower leaves elliptic to ovate, tapered to winged petiole; upper leaves ± clasping
Inflorescence: bracts < 40 mm, linear to lanceolate
Flower: calyx 8–15 mm, lobes < tube, ± equal, triangular; corolla narrowly funnel-shaped, white to cream, tube and throat 50–75 mm, limb 15–20 mm wide; stamens unequal, filaments attached below middle of tube
Fruit 12–16 mm
Ecology: Open, disturbed areas, fields
Elevation: < 200 m.
Bioregional distribution: n Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area
Distribution outside California: native to S.America
Plants with long-tapered sepal lobes ± = tube are N. alata Link & Otto, cultivated for ornamental, waif in fields.

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bioregional map for NICOTIANA%20sylvestris being generated
 


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