~ TOBACCO SECTION  ~

Family: Solanaceae
A pipe in the morning
assists the action of the bowels

Hopi..................Nicotiana rustica
Annual.  Thick, rounded leaves with very high nicotine content.  This is the most northern hardy of the tobaccos.  Originally from the garden of a shaman.

Huichol..................Nicotiana langsdorfii
Annual.  Very potent ceremonial and smoking tobacco.  Small leaves on long petioles, short growing species with decorative, pendulous yellow blossoms, to 18 inches.

Scherazi.........Nicotiana tabacum
This is a special Iranian cultivar, which is darker leaved and stronger tasting than the relatively light “Tobacco, Smoking” listed below. Impressively flowered lavender to 5 feet. Highly recommended.

Smoking.........Nicotiana tabacum
This is a very mellow smoking tobacco which matures readily, even if the summer is cool or the growing season short. Flowers lavender to 5 feet.  Highly recommended.

Tree...................Nicotiana glauca
Perennial.  Originally from Argentina and Bolivia, this Tobacco is now widely naturalized in dry, desert areas around the globe.  The bright yellow, long-tubed flowers are awesome.  Smokeable.  A poultice of the leaves is known to heal wounds and skin infections.  Germ in 18 days

Trumpet........Nicotiana sylvestris
Annual.  Heirloom smoking tobacco from North Carolina.  Makes masses of decorative and aromatic white/pink trumpet flowers. This species produces the largest leaves.  They are very high in nicotine.  Plant 2 feet apart.  Flowers to 8 feet.

On the Curing and Twisting of Tobacco
As the plant matures, you can cut off the developing flowers to make the leaves grow bigger.  The very lowest leaves are generally poor quality, known as “sand lugs.” The top leaves are thicker, and have a higher nicotine content.   The bigger they are, and the less damaged, the better the quality.   When the leaves begin to go a little yellow on the plant, they are ready to harvest.  Cut the entire plant off at the base, and hang upside down in a barn or open shed.  The leaves will slowly turn from green to a golden brown, as they dry in the day and take on moisture at night. This is how they cure. When they are entirely golden brown, wait for a humid day so the leaves will be pliable, and pluck the leaves from the stalk.  Spread a leaf out on your thigh, and begin layering more leaves on top of it, alternating tip to base with each leaf.  Do this with seven leaves.  Then roll them up tightly the long way like a big cigar, keeping the outside leaf smooth.  Then begin twisting the cigar in opposite directions with your two hands, creating a tight loop at the top, and allowing the ends to wrap around each other in the classic shape of a “plug.”  Hang by the stove for a day or two to dry to smokeability, then store in plastic or glass jars.  To use, simply slice a thin cross section from the end of the plug, which will produce the general crinkly quality of prepared tobacco.