SOLANEiE. 171 



species flourished ; a beautiful shrubby plant, easily trained, with 

 fine foliage, and delicate whitish and purple flowers, continuing a 

 long time to blossom. Its stamens vary from 4 to 5, but its place 

 is with those which have 5. A native species is found in the 

 Southern States. 



NiCANDRA. Adanson. 5. 1. 

 Named in honor of a Greek physician, Nicander, by Adanson, 

 who removed it from the Linnaean genus Atropa. 



JV*. physaloides. Pers. Found in the vicinity of New Bed- 

 ford ; stem branched, 2 or 3 feet high, bearing solitary, pale-blue 

 flowers, in the axils of the leaves ; seeds in a fleshy berry ; a 

 native of Peru ; introduced. 



The Indians of Peru used the berries for the relief of the gravel 

 and other urinary diseases. 



Atropa. L. 5. 1. 

 Has its name from one of the Fates, as its deadly poison does 

 the work of Atropos in cutting short the hves of men. 



^. belladonna. L. Deadly Nightshade. Its specific name, 

 fair lady, is derived from its use, as some suppose, in making the 

 skin smooth and fair ; found in Britain ; rarely cultivated in this 

 country ; a deadly poison ; used in medicine for certain purposes ; 

 wonderfully dilates the pupil of the eye. 



Verbascum. L. 5. 1. Mullein. 

 Its name is a corruption of another, given on account of the 

 thick woolly or beardlike covering of the leaves and stem ; chiefly 

 natives of the South of Europe. 



V. Thapsus. L. Common Mullein. Named from the Isle of 

 Thapsos, where it is indigenous ; a well-known plant of the roads 

 and neglected fields ; its yellow, spiked flowers would make it 

 very respectable in appearance, were it not for the bad company- 

 it has kept, and the bad reputation it has fastened on itself. The 

 plant is mucilaginous and emolhent, and the leaves, boiled in milk, 

 have been used as a great relief to the piles ; naturalized. 



