_A Description of the Plant and its Flowers._
There are several species of the Tobacco Plant, and these are chiefly
distinguishable by their flowers, and the junction of the leaves to
the stalks; but as this is not intended for a Botanical Treatise, I
shall confine my description to those sorts which are cultivated in
the colonies for exportation: these are two; the Oronokoe and the
sweet-scented; which differ from each other in no respect but in the
shape of their leaves, those of the former being longer and narrower
than the latter. Both are tall, herbaceous plants, of an erect growth
and noble foliage, rising each with a strong stem (in their native
soil) to the height of from six to nine feet. The stalk is upwards
of an inch diameter near the root, and surrounded with a kind of
hairy or velvet, clammy substance, of a yellowish green colour.
The leaves, which are rather of a deeper green, grow to the stalk
alternately, at the distance of about two or three inches from each
other. They are oblong, of a spear-shaped-oval, and simple; without
pedicles embracing the stalk by an auriculated base. The largest are
about twenty inches long, decreasing in size as they ascend, till
they are not longer than ten inches, and nearly half as broad. The
face of the leaves is much undulated, or corrugated, not unlike those
of spinnage when full ripe. In their first state, at the time they
do not exceed five or six inches, the leaves are usually of a full
green, and rather smooth, but as they increase in size they acquire a
yellowish cast and become rougher.
The stem and branches are terminated by large bunches of flowers,
collected into clusters of a delicate red, the edges, when quite
blown, inclining to a pale purple. The flowers continue in
succession until the end of summer, when they make room for the
seed. These are of a brown colour, kidney-shaped, and very small,
each capsule generally containing about a thousand, and the whole
produce of a single plant is estimated at three hundred and fifty
thousand. The seeds are usually ripe in the month of September, and
when perfectly dry may be rubbed out and preserved in bags till the
following season.
The Oronokoe, or, as it is termed by the seedsmen, the long Virginia,
appears to me to be the sort best suited to bear the rigour of a
northern climate, the strength of the plant, as well as the scent
and efficacy of the leaves being greater than the other. The
sweet-scented flourishes most in a sandy soil and warm countries,
where it greatly exceeds the former in the celerity of its growth;
and although, as I have before observed, it differs from the Oronokoe
only in the shape of its leaves, being shorter and rounder, yet it
is unlike in its strength and flavour, being, agreeable to its name,
much milder and pleasanter.
As a species of garden plants, the Nicotiana is an ornamental annual
for the pleasure ground, as it attains a majestic stature, and being
adorned with fine luxuriant leaves, and large clusters of pleasing
flowers which terminate all the shoots, during the autumn it exhibits
an elegant appearance.
For a more compleat idea of the Oronokoe plant and its flowers, the
reader is referred to the plate prefixed to this Work. But it must be
observed, that the number of leaves represented on the stalk is not
designed to serve as a rule for topping the tobacco, as directed in
the fourth chapter. Only a few of them are annexed to the stalk, that
the representation of the leaf might be the more compleat.