128 PENTANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 



equally pseudo pinnate, In many species screwing- by pairs; 

 peduncles solitary or several, one or many-flowered, above 

 the axiil, scattered or terminal. Pubescence stellate. 



Species. 1 5. nignnn^ v^r'xety virginicityn. 2. Dnlca- 

 mura. Becoming' naturalized. 3. mammosiLin. 4. virg-inia- 

 ■finm. 5. carolincnse. 6. *triJ}oriim. Stem unarmed, herbace- 

 ous and procumbent; leaves dentately-pinnatifid, smooth, 

 segments acute, somewhat undulated, with the marg-in 

 more or less revolute; peduncles opposite the leaves, 2 

 or 3-flowered. — Floorers small and white, revolute; fruit 

 about the size of a cherry, green when ripe. Stem a lit- 

 tle hirsute, spreading and procumbent, about a foot long; 

 leaves somewhat runcinate. This species, though very 

 distinct, appears to have some afhnity with the S. nmcina- 

 turn of Peru and Chili. — Hab. As a ivced in and about the 

 gardens of the Mandans and Minitarees, and in no other 

 situations. Near Fort Mandan. Flowering from June to 

 August. 



Of this last genus there are now no less than 140 spe- 

 cies described, besides what have been recently added 

 from New Holland and other places. Some of the species 

 have become highly important in human economy, such 

 are tlie Potatoe (.V. tuberosum) introduced into Europe 

 from the mountainous parts of Peru in tlie year 1590, ac- 

 cording to Hauliin; tlie Melongena sometimes called egg- 

 plant {S. JMelongena) of Asia, .\frica, and America, cul- 

 tivated for food in tlie warmer parts of the continent of 

 Europe, as well as in the United States; the Tomatoe (.S*. 

 Lycopersiciim) of India and the warmer parts of America, 

 its fruit aflbrding an agreeable and well known condiment; 

 to these we may add the S. anguivi of Madagascar, fur- 

 nishing also an esculent fru t; the S. scabnnn of Peru 

 pvodncing a fruit like an orange, answering the purpose 

 of a saponaceous abstergent for w^ashing; with the P. 

 Psevdo-capsiatm of Madeira every one is familiar, an 

 elegant shrub cultivated for the appearance of its fruit, 

 resemjjling scarlet cherries. 



In its geographical distribution the genus Solanurn is 

 principally confined to the tropical parts of America, and 

 no where more abundant than in Peru and .Mexico; there 

 are also a few species in India and Africa, but in Ameri- 

 ca there are no less than 100. With the exception then 

 of S. Dulcatnara and S. iiigrum this genus is principally 

 indigenous to the warmer parts of America, extending also 

 into. -sia and Africa; the S. nigrum '\& found apparently 

 spontaneous in every part of the world, in North \merica 

 it exists westward to the sources of the Missouri. The 

 S. Dulcamara is now also becoming naturalized in the 



