NIGHTSHADE FAMILY (POTATO FAMILY) 187 



Solanum verbascif olium. Flowers whitish. Shrub. Leaves 

 5-12 in. long, oblong or broadest near base, densely covered 

 with short hairs. Sandy soil. Southern Fla. 



Solanum aculeatissimum. Horse nettle. Flowers white, Vi 

 in. across, in few-flowered clusters. Berry orange, 1 in. or 

 more in diameter. Plants 1-2 ft. tall, prickle-armed. Leaves 

 2-4 in. long, toothed or lobed, broadest near base. Waste 

 places and sandy soil. Blooming all the year. Fla. to N. C. 

 and Texas. 



Solanum sissrmbriif olium. Flowers similar to above species. 

 Berries reddish, 1 in. or less in diameter. Plants 1-2 ft. 

 tall, prickle-armed. Leaves 3-8 in. long, deeply lobed or 

 parted. Waste places. An introduced weed. Gulf States. 



Groun'd Cherry (Genns PJiy sails) 



Several species of this genus grow as weeds in cultivated 

 grounds and on roadsides, and are easily identified by 

 their nodding, pale yellow, usually solitary flowers, and 

 their peculiar fruit — a berry enclosed in the enlarged 

 calyx, which becomes a thin inflated sac. The strawberry 

 tomato, or Jerusalem cherry, of this genus is cultivated for 

 its fruit. 



Physalis arenicola. Flowers pale yellow, darker in throat, 

 open bell-shaped, nodding, less than 1 in. long, axillary. 

 Berry enclosed in enlarged calyx. Stems 6-16 in. tall. 

 Leaves broadest near base, 1-3 in. long. Sandy soil. Bloom- 

 ing all the year. Fla. 



Christmas Berry. Box-Thorn (Genus Lycium) 



This small, thickly branched shrub, with many short, 

 narrow, fleshy leaves, grows in borders of salt marshes 

 and in groups near the beach. The small purple flowers 

 are sometimes very numerous, but are less conspicuous 

 than the oblong or roundish red berries, which vary in size 

 ,as well as in abundance in different localities. 



