190 SOLANE.E. [Verbascum. 



1. D. Stramonium, Linn. Common Thorn-apple. Fruit 

 spinous, ovate, erect ; leaves ovate, smooth, sinuated. Br. Fl. 

 1. p. 93. E. Fl. v. i. p. 314. .#. Bot. t. 1288. 



Waste ground in the neighbourhood of towns, occasionally, where 

 the seeds have probably escaped from gardens. Fl. July. ©. — Well 

 known for its narcotic properties and was much used in London, Dub- 

 lin, and other places several years ago as a cure for asthma, smoked 

 like tobacco. 



2. Hyoscyamus. Linn. Henbane. 



Calyx tubular, 5-cleft. Corolla funnel-shaped, the limb spread- 

 ing, obliquely 5-lobed, unequal. Stigma capitate. Capsule 

 compressed, furrowed on each side, opening at the apex by a 

 transverse aperture. — Name from its, vos, a Hog, and Kva^ios, 

 a bean. Hogs are said to eat the fruit, which bears some re- 

 semblance to a bean. The seeds do not prove injurious, 

 though the plant be esteemed poisonous. 



Pentandria. Monogynia. 



1. H. niger, Linn. Common Henbane. Leaves sinuated, 

 clasping the stem ; flowers sessile. Br. Fl. 1. p. 94. E. FL v. 

 \.p. 315. E. Bot. t. 591. 



On waste grounds, and dry gravelly or sandy commons, especially 

 near the coast. Fl. July. 0. — Leaves sharply lobed, soft, downy, and 

 viscid, exhaling a powerful and very disagreeable odour, like all the rest 

 of the plant. Flowers numerous from the bosoms of the upper leaves. 

 Corolla straw colour, pencilled with dark purple veins. Plant highly 

 narcotic. 



2. Verbascum. Linn. Mullein. 



Calyx 5-parted. Corolla rotate, 5-lobed, unequal. Stamens 5, 

 unequal; filaments declinate, almost always villous at the 

 base. Capsule with two valves, ovate or globose. — Name 

 altered from Barbascum, from Barba, a beard ; in allusion to 

 the shaggy nature of its foliage. 



Pentandria. Monogynia. 



1. V. Thapsus, Linn. Great Mullein or Shepherd's -club. 

 Leaves decurrent, crenate, woolly on both sides ; stem simple ; 

 cluster dense; flowers almost sessile. Br. Fl. 1. p. 95. E. FL 

 v. i. p. 308. E. Bot. t. 549. 



Banks and waste ground in light sandy, or gravelly soils, in many 

 places. Fl. July, Aug. $ . — Stem four or live feet high, angular, 

 winged. Leaves thick, excessively woolly, ovate or oblong. Spike 

 long, cylindrical. Flowers handsome, golden yellow. Three of the 

 stamens are hairy ; two longer ones glabrous. — The leaves boiled in 

 milk are much used by the peasantry in hasmorrhoidal complaints. 



2. V. virgatum, With. Large -flowered Primrose leaved 

 Mullein. Leaves ovato-lanceolate, toothed, sessile ; radical 

 ones downy, somewhat lyrate ; stem branched ; flowers aggre- 



