ABSTRACT

Both species have long been called blackroot or Indian blackroot in the United States, but they sometimes also are called rabbit tobacco. The last name is more often applied to members of Gnaphalium, the genus where Linnaeus originally put these plants. Our word tobacco came into English from Spanish tabaco, first used in the 1500s but taken from a Taino word in Hispaniola. The modifier “rabbit” is equivalent to saying “wild” to distinguish it from the cultivated Nicotiana. Comparison with Nicotiana results from Pterocaulon leaves being smoked or chewed either as a medicine or simply because tobacco was not available.