烟草 yan cao

Nicotiana chinensis Fischer ex Lehmann.

Herbs viscid, annual or short-lived perennial, 0.7-2 m tall, glandular hairy overall. Leaves decurrent, winging stems; leaf blade ovate to elliptic or lanceolate, 30(-70) × 8-15(-30) cm, membranous, glandular hairy, base narrowed, nearly half clasping, apex acuminate. Inflorescences many-flowered, much-branched panicles. Pedicel 0.5-2 cm. Calyx tubular or tubular-campanulate, 2-2.5 cm; lobes deltate, acuminate, unequal. Corolla yellowish at base, yellowish, greenish, red, or pink distally, funnelform, 3.5-5 cm; limb 1-1.5 cm in diam., with acute unequal lobes. Stamens unequal, sometimes partly exserted. Capsules ellipsoid or ovoid. Seeds brown, rounded, ca. 0.5 mm in diam. Fl. summer, fr. autumn.

Widely cultivated throughout China [native to South America]

Used for tobacco and as an insecticide, also medicinally for anaesthetic, inducing sweat, or vomiting.