FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS 



233 



Fig. 202. Flowering branch and enlarged flowers of a typical labiate plant 



( 7 eucrium) . After Coulter's " Plant Structures," by courtesy 



of D. Appleton & Co. 



cooking, and become one of our most nutritious vegetables. In Japan 

 the fruits of S. album and S. Aethiopicum are used as food, and in South 

 America and Australia, other species are employed for the same purpose. 

 Several species, such as ^S'. indigoferum, are cultivated for the sake of 

 the dyes which they yield. Many of the nightshades are disagreeable 

 weeds, particularly in warm latitudes ; in this category may be men- 

 tioned the horse-nettle {S. Carolinense) and the black nightshade {S. 

 nigrum). A few species, as S. Seaforthianum, are cultivated for their 

 flowers. 



The tomato belongs to the allied genus Lycopersicum, and has been 

 wonderfully developed in the hands of horticulturists. The ground- 

 cherry or ground-tomato, belongs to the rather large genus Physalis. 



A number of ornamental plants, such as the Petunia, the Datura and 

 species of Gestrum belong to the family. Datura includes also the 

 familiar "jimson-weed" of our southern States (see Fig 203); though 



