590 NOTES ON THE COMMON NIGHTSHADE, 



the different species were sown, and eventually planted out in a 

 plantation in the lower garden for observation and comparison 

 with the plants found naturalised in New South Wales. The 

 plants raised were as follows : — 



SoLANUM GUINEENSE Lara. (Plates xxxii. and xxxiii., fig.c?), 



(Received from Botanic Gardens, Madrid, Spain). 



The plants proved to be fairly robust and rather coarse, reach- 

 ing a height of about 2 feet or rarely more than 2 J feet, with 

 rather strong branches more or less pubescent, and large, almost 

 entire leaves. Flowers white, with yellowish-brown coloured 

 anthers, and large purplish-black berries, nearly as large as 

 Morella cherries. 



Plants identical with the above were also grown in the 

 propagating ground in 1913, from seed received from the Natural 

 History Museum, Paris, France, in May, 1912, under the name 

 S. nigrum var. yuineense. Seeds of the latter were saved by the 

 late Superintendent (Mr. G. Harwood), and were labelled "Bur- 

 bank's .Wonderberry." These were re-sown by the present 

 Superintendent (Mr. E. N. Ward), who had fifty seedlings of 

 the batch planted in unmanured soil in the trial ground in 

 August, 1914. On February 20th, 1915, Mr. Ward submitted 

 to the Director (Mr. J. H. Maiden) the following report con- 

 cerning them : — "The plants have proved easy to grow, and are 

 wonderfully prolific. Fruit began to set when the plants were 

 only 6 inches high. They are still flowering and setting fruit 

 at 2 ft., which appears to be their maximum height. The fruit 

 is uneatable raw, but excellent cooked, also when made into jam 

 or jelly; in flavour and appearance, when cooked, it resembles 

 an improved English Cranberry. The fruit is firm, making it a 



good carrier, and is easily gathered The plants at first 



resemble S. nigrum^ but later are diff'erent in many ways, especi- 

 ally in their upright growth as against the partially prostrate 

 growth of S. nigrum." I can fully endorse Mr. Ward's remarks 

 that "the plants are easy to grow" and wonderfully prolific, and 

 also his statement that the fruit is firm, making it a good 

 carrier, and is easily gathered, as I have grown several plants 

 from the seeds obtained fi'om the plants grown by Mr. Ward, in 



