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Nicotiana rustica
Also called Wild Tobacco, Indian Tabacco, Native Tobacco, Nicotine Tobacco, Small Tobacco
Nicotiana rustica is a short-lived tobacco species from South America, grown for its very high nicotine leaves and used for pesticides and traditional ceremonies. It is grown like other tobaccos: sunny, warm, and well-drained.
Nicotiana rustica, commonly known as Aztec tobacco or strong tobacco, is a rainforest plant in the family Solanaceae native to South America. It is a very potent variety of tobacco, containing up to nine times more nicotine than common species of Nicotiana such as Nicotiana tabacum (common tobacco). More specifically, N. rustica leaves have a nicotine content as high as 9%, whereas N. tabacum leaves contain about 1 to 3%. The high concentration of nicotine in its leaves makes it useful for producing pesticides, and it has a wide variety of uses specific to cultures around the world. However, N. rustica is no longer cultivated in North America (except in small quantities by certain Native American tribes) as N. tabacum has replaced it.
Nicotiana rustica serves as a larval host plant for Chrysodeixis includens and Phthorimaea operculella. Known pollinators of Nicotiana rustica include: Augochlorella aurata, Lasioglossum perpunctatum, Bombus impatiens, Lasioglossum tegulare, Augochlora pura, Lasioglossum michiganense, Lasioglossum versans, Bombus vagans, Halictus ligatus, Lasioglossum oblongum, Halictus rubicundus, Megachile frigida, and Sphecodes heraclei.
Manyflower tobacco · Jasmine tobacco · Nicotiana benthamiana · Debney's Tobacco · Tree tobacco · Langsdorff's tobacco · Nicotiana mutabilis · Tobacco · South American tobacco · Cultivated tobacco · Tobacco
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Nicotiana rustica by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
