An erect annual herb with large, broad leaves, cultivated worldwide for the leaves used in tobacco products.
Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum, family Solanaceae) is an upright annual or short-lived perennial 70 to 250 cm tall, unbranched or sparsely branched, with a well-developed taproot. It is the most widely grown tobacco and one of the world's major non-food crops. It is rich in nicotine and has a long history of use as a medicinal plant and stimulant. It was grown in the Americas long before Europeans arrived and is now cultivated widely, including in the USA, India and China. It was first used as chewing tobacco, and smoking varieties were selected later. Nicotine is toxic and highly addictive; in larger doses it causes vomiting, diarrhoea, a slow pulse, dizziness, collapse and failure of breathing.
It is not known in the wild. It arose as a hybrid between two other species, Nicotiana sylvestris and N. tomentosiformis, and it has escaped from cultivation in many regions and become invasive in Cuba, parts of Asia and the Pacific. It is a crop of the seasonally dry tropics at 800 to 1,800 metres, but can be grown between latitudes 60°N and 40°S, best at 15 to 30°C with 500 to 750 mm of rain. It prefers deep, rich, moist, well-drained soil in sun. Its sweet-scented flowers release most of their scent in the evening and attract moths. Its tiny seeds stay viable for more than ten years when stored dry and cool.
Source: Useful Tropical Plants database (Fern, K.).
Leaf preparations are used topically in some traditional practice for insect stings and skin ailments, and leaves are used as a natural insecticide in gardens; tobacco is highly addictive and its use carries serious health risks.
Grown as an annual crop from seed; the leaves are harvested and then cured and dried before use.