PHYSALIS. 



Berry smooth, 2-celled, covered with the angular membranous 

 inflated calyx. 



1071. P. somnifera Linn. sp. pi. 261. Cav. ic. ii. t. 103. Fl. 

 Grcec. t. 233. — P. flexuosa Linn, sp.pl. 261. Jacq. eel. t. 23. 

 Roxb. jl. ind. i. — . {Rheede iv. t. 55.) — Rocky places on the 

 seacoast of the South of Europe and the East Indies. 



Stems several, erect, shrubby, branched and forked, round, downy. 

 Leaves in lateral pairs, short-stalked, ovate, a little scolloped, downy, 

 from 2 to 4 inches long. Flowers axillary, subsessile, crowded, small, 

 greenish-yellow, or whitish. Calyx ovate-pyramidal, greenish-yellow 

 or reddish. Corolla campanulate. Berry red, smooth, size of a pea. — 

 This plant is thought to have been the Srpv%i'oc vwwtikoq of Dios- 

 corides. It is reputed to be narcotic, diuretic, and alexipharmic. The 

 leaves steeped in oil are, in India, applied to inflammatory tumours ; 

 and they are used in a similar way in Egypt. Kunth recognised this 

 plant in Egyptian mummies. 



1072. P. Alkekengi Linn. (The winter Cherry) is diuretic 

 and employed in veterinary practice. 



1073. Nicandra physalodes Gcertn. ( Atropa physalodes Linn.) 

 is also said to be diuretic. 



SOLANUM. 



Calyx permanent, 5-10-parted. Corolla rotate, in 4, 5, or 

 6 divisions. Anthers 4-6, converging into a cone, opening by 

 pores at the apex. Fruit succulent 2-6-celled. 



1074. S. nigrum Linn, sp.pl. 266. Eng.Bot. t. 566. Woodv. 

 t. 226. Smith Eng. Fl. i. 318. — Waste places all over the 

 world. 



Root fibrous. Herb foetid, narcotic, bushy, with numerous, angular, 

 or winged, leafy branches. Leaves undivided, lengthened out at the 

 base, smooth. Umbels from the intermediate spaces between the 

 leaves, solitary, stalked, simple, downy. Flowers white, with a musky 

 scent. Berries globular, black ; sometimes as it is reported yellow. — 

 A grain or two of the dried leaf have sometimes been given to promote 

 various secretions, possibly by exciting a great, and rather dangerous, 

 agitation in the viscera. Smith. It is a narcotic, and according to 

 Orfila, its extract possesses nearly the same power as Lettuce-opium. 

 In Brazil it is called Carachichu, or Erva Moira ; and when bruised is 

 applied either in poultices or baths to painful wounds ; and in gene- 

 rally inflammatory cases with a predominant excitement of the nervous 

 system. Martius. 



1075. S. Dulcamara Linn. sp. pi. 264. Eng. Bot. t. 365. 

 Woodv. t. 33. Smith Eng. Fl. i. 318. — In temperate countries 



in Europe, Asia, and America. (Bitter-sweet.) 



Root woody. Stem shrubby, twining, branched, rising when sup- 

 ported to the height of many feet. Leaves acute, generally smooth ; 

 the lower ones ovate, or heart-shaped ; upper more or less perfectly 

 halberd-shaped ; all entire at the margin. Clusters either opposite to 

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