!: 



NicoTUNA. XCIX. SOLANACE^. 445 



Anth. bursting longitudinally, rarely by terminal pores. 



Ova. free (superior), 2-celled, (4-celled in Datura) with the placenta in the axis. 



Styles and stigmas united into l. 



Fr. a capsule or berry. Seeds numerous. Embryo curved, lying in fleshy albumen. 



Genera 60, species 900, diffused throughout the world, except the frigid zones, but most abundant in 

 the torrid. 



Properties. These are highly important. A large portion of the genera are pervaded by a narcotic 

 principle, rendering the herbage and fruit dangerously poisonous, yet furnishing some of the most active 

 medicines; as the henbane (Hyoscyamus), belladonna (Atropa), stramonium (Datura), tobacco (Nicoti- 

 ana), &c. At the same time several species of Solanum aflord wholesome and nutritious lood, not 

 because they are free from the narcotic principle, but because it is expelled in the process of cooking or 

 ripening in the sun. Such are the tubers of the invaluable potato, the fruit of the tomato and egg piant. 

 The genus Capsicum is entirely free from narcotine, and produces the well-known stimulant fruit, 

 Cayenne -pepper. 



Conspectus of the Genera. 



( Fruit < sitting on the calyx. ; . . . Solanum. 8 



'rotate, with a < baccate, ^enclosed in the calyx Physalis. 6 



very short tube. ( Friut capsular, dry. Capsiawm. 7 



^ Sepals lanceolate Atropa. 9 



campanulate. ( Sepals leafy, sagittate Nicandra. 5 



\ Capsule spinose Datura. 3 



( Herbs. I Capsule smooth, ..... Nicctiana. 2 



(regular, I funnel-form. . ( Trailing shrubs Lycium. 10 



< ^ salver- form, lower segments larger Petunia. I 



Corolla ( irregular, I funnel- form, upper segments larger Hyoscyamus. 4 



1. PETUNIA. Juss. 



The Brazilian name is petun. Latinized, petunia. 



Calyx tube short, the limb 5-cleft, foliaceous ; corolla hypocrateri- 

 form, the tube cylindric, limb in 5, unequal, flat, plicate lobes ; sta- 

 mens 5, unequal, included, arising from the middle of the corolla 

 tube ; capsule 2-yalved. — Herbs with simple Ivs. and axillary.^ solitary^ 

 showy fls. 



1. P. viOLACEA. — St. weak, viscid-pilose; Ivs. acute, on short petioles; cor. 

 ventricose, cleft into rounded, acute lobes. — (g) A pretty, trailing or climbing 

 plant, becoming quite popular in cultivation, native of Brazil. Whole plant 

 clothed with clammy hairs. Stems simple, several from the same root, 2 — 8f 

 long. Leaves 1 — 2' long, nearly as broad, tapering at base into a winged peti- 

 ole, fleshy, nearly smooth beneath. Sepals obtuse. Peduncles as long as the 

 leaves, and scarcely longer than the corolla tube. Limb of the corolla bright 

 purple, an inch or more broad, upper segment smallest. Capsule furnished 

 with a tube each side of the sutures. 



2. P. ALBA.— 5"/!. weak, viscid-pilose ; Ivs. ovate, acute, upper ones sessile ; 

 cor. tube cylindric, scarcely dilated above, 2 or 3 times longer than the obtuse, 

 spatulate sepals, limb flat, spreading, greenish-white. — (i) (g) Brazil. Usually 

 regarded as a variety of the first, and perhaps it may have originated from that 

 .species by cultivation. It is usually a stouter plant, with larger leaves and 

 flowers, the latter constantly yellowish or greenish-white, with a long, slender 

 tube, 



2. NICOTIANA. Tourn. 

 In honor? of John Nicot, of Languedoc, who seems to have introduced it into Europe. 



Calyx urceolate, 5-cleft ; corolla infundibuliform, regular, limb 

 5-lobed ; stamens 5 ; stigma emarginate ; capsule 2-celled, 2 — 4 

 valved. — ® Coarse., narcotic herbs, ivith sivijplc Ivs. and terminal fls. 

 Cor. iohite,iinged with green or 'purple. 



1. N. Rf.sTlcA. Common Tobacco. 



Viscid-pubescent ; Ivs. petioled, ovate, entire ; tiihe of the cor. cylindric, 

 longer than ihe calyx, .segments round, obtuse. — For the purposes of tobacco 

 this plant is con.'^idered inferior to the Virginian. Stem 12 — 18' high. Flowers 

 greenish-yellow, in a terminal panicle or raceme. In western N. Y., &c., said 

 to have been introduced by the Indians. Aug, ^ 



2. N. Tabacum. . Virginian Tobacco. 



Viscid-pubescent; Ivs. lanceolate, sessile, dccurrent ; cor. tube inflated at 

 the throat, lobes acute. — Native of Central America, particularly the Island of 

 Tobago, and the Province of Tabasco in Mexico, whence it was first exported 



