336 



SOLAN ACE AE. 



1. Solanum nigrum L. BLACK 

 OR GARDEN NIGHTSHADE. (Fig. 363.) 

 Annual, glabrous, or somewhat pu- 

 bescent with simple hairs, l-3 high. 

 Leaves ovate, petioled, more or less 

 inequilateral, l'-3|- long, thin, acute 

 or acutish, entire or coarsely toothed; 

 peduncles lateral, umbellately 3-10- 

 flowered; pedicels 3 "-8" long; flow- 

 ers 4"-5" broad; calyx-lobes oblong, 

 or ovate, much shorter than the white 

 corolla, persistent at the base of the 

 berry; filaments somewhat pubes- 

 cent; anthers obtuse; berries black, 

 glabrous, globose, 4"-5" in diameter, 

 on nodding peduncles. [S. nodiflo- 

 rum Jacq.] 



In waste places or cultivated soil, 

 rather common, and occasional in rocky 

 woodlands. Native. Temperate and trop- 

 ical regions generally, consisting of many 



slightly differing races. Flowers from spring to autumn. Its seeds were probably 



transported to Bermuda by a bird. 



2. Solanum aculeatissimum 

 Jacq. COCKROACH BERRY. (Fig. 

 364.) Perennial, slightly woody, 

 usually much branched, 2-4 

 high, somewhat pilose or becoming 

 glabrous, the branches, petioles, 

 leaf-blades and peduncles armed 

 with straight yellow prickles. 

 Leaves thin, broadly ovate in out- 

 line, 3 '-6' long, pinnately lobed 

 or repand; cymes few-flowered, 

 lateral; calyx armed with stout 

 prickles, about one-third as long 

 as the corolla, its lobes ovate, 

 acute; corolla white, about 6" 

 broad; anthers ovate-lanceolate; 

 berry globose, scarlet, glabrous, 

 i'-f in diameter. 



Roadsides and waste grounds, 

 occasional. Naturalized. Native of 

 tropical America. Flowers in sum- 

 mer and autumn. 



Solanum torvum Sw., BUSHY WHITE SOLANUM, tropical American, a tall 

 bushy species, common as a weed in the West Indies, tornentose nearly all 

 over, and armed with nearly straight yellowish prickles, the ovate angular- 

 lobed leaves 8' long or less, scabrous above, the white flowers about A' broad, 

 in lateral cymes, the globose berries about 4" in diameter, is one of the few 

 plants mentioned by Grisebach in ' ' Flora of the British West Indies, ' ' as 



