Lycium, XCIX. SOLANACEiE. 449 



smooth, and of a glossy purple. It is prepared for food in various ways, and 

 considered wholesome and delicious eating. Like the tomato, it is cultivated 

 from the seed sown early in warm, dry and mellow soil. :}: 



/?. Fr. smaller, white. — Cultivated "lor the curiosity of the fruit, which when 

 ripe can scarcely be distinguished by its appearance from a hen's e^^. 



§ 3. Berries 3 — 6-celled, often torose. 



7. S. Lycopersicum. Tomato. — Hairy; s^. herbaceous, weak ; Zrs. unequal- 

 ly pinnatifid, segments cut, glaucous beneath ; fr. torulose, furrowed, smooth. — 

 (X) This plant resembles the potato in its general aspect. It grows 3— 4f high, 

 with jagged leaves, greenish-yellow flowers, and an unpleasant odor. The 

 fruit is large and abundant, with acute furrows, at first green, becoming when 

 ripe of a beautiful red. This plant has come into high repute, and its cultiva- 

 tion is rapidly extending. The fruit is prepared in various ways, for sauces, 

 stews, &c., having an agreeable acid taste. ^ 



Oc)5.— Cultivation has produced numerous varieties. One has large, torulose, bright-yellow fruit; 

 anoth«r has small, globose, golden-yellow fruit, not torulose ; the fruit of a third is small, pear-shaped, 

 less juicy, &c. 



9. ATROPA. 



Name of one of the three Fates in Grecian mythology, whose office Avas to cut the thread of human life. 



Calyx persistent, 5-cleft ; corolla campanulate ; stamens 5, distant ; 

 berry globose, 2-celled, sitting on the calyx. — Herbs, shrubs or trees, 

 natives of the Old World. 



A. Belladonna. Deadly Nightshade. — St. herbaceous ; Ivs. ovate, entire ; 

 berries black. — This foreigner is far less repulsive in its appearance than most 

 others of its order. The lurid, pale purple of the flower, indeed, looks suspi- 

 cious, but not its smell ; nor is there any warning of its deadly nature given 

 by the aspect, taste or smell of the berries, which are larger than cherries, round, 

 green, at length of a fine glossy black, full of a purple juice. Stem 5f high, 

 branching below, and with the large leaves, inclines more or less to a purplish 

 hue. Every part of the plant, especially the berries, is poisonous, f 



10. LYCIUM. 



Named from Lycia, the native country of the original species. 



Calyx 2 — 5-cleft, short ; corolla tubular, limb mostly 5-lobed, 

 spreading, orifice closed by the beard of the filaments ; stamens 4 — 

 5, exserted ; berry 2-celled ; seeds several, reniform. — Shrubs, the 

 branches ending in a spinose point, and often having axillary spines. 

 Fls. axillary, solitary, or in pairs. 



L. Barbarum. Matrimony Vine. — St. angular; branches long, pendulous, 

 somewhat spiny; Ivs. often fasciculate, lanceolate; cal. mostly 3-cleft. — Native 

 of Barbary, cultivated and nearly naturalized. It is a shrub, with long, slen- 

 der, trailing or hanging branches \vhich overspread walls, &c., with a thick, 

 tangled mass. Leaves smooth, 3 times as long as wide, often broadest above, 

 acute or obtuse, tapering into a petiole. Flowers greenish-purple. Berries 

 orange-red. f 



