

PENTANDRIA. MONOGYNTA. Solanum. 351 



Stems twining. Leaves egg-spear-shaped ; the upper some* 

 times, but not always halberd -shaped. Blast, purple, with 2 green 

 spots at the base of each segment. Anthers on the 1st opening of 

 the blossom readily separable, but afterwards growing dryer, 

 they sooner tear than be disjoined. t Berries scarle tf Bloss. 

 sometimes flesh coloured ; rarely white 



Woody Nightshade. Moist 



sides of ditches. 



Jun-, J 



Var. 2. Leaves hafry. Huds. — Sea coast. Ray and Huds, 



S. Stem without prickles, herbaceous : leaves egg-shaped, ni'grom 



toothed, angular : bunches nodding, pointing 2 ways. 



E. bat. 566-Lud*v. \72-Curt.~FL dan. bGO-Woodv. 22ft- 



Sheldr. 106-B/adnu. 107-Dod. 45+. \-Lob. obs. 133. 2 

 -Ger. em. 339. 1-Park. 3-t6. \-H. ox. * xiii. 1- ront) 1. 1 



-Motth. I06*h&er. ySeh-futh. 686-J. B. in. 6. 6"0S- 



Trag. 303. 



Stem branched, angular. Fruit-stalk lateral, midway between 

 the leaves Bloss. white. Berries black when ripe. This plant 

 is subject to such varieties that I once suspected Linnaeus had 

 confounded different species under the name of S. nigrum ; but 

 the judicious remarks of my truly estimable friend Dr. Correa de • 

 Serra, at length convinced me to the contrary. With us it is 

 truly an herbaceous annual, but in Portugal I have seen the stem 

 from £ to I inch diameter, cutting like hard wood, and its dura* 

 tion certainly biennial, probably perennial, the stem and branches 

 becoming quite black with age. The fig. of Mr. Curtis seems 

 to have been taken from a plant in an intermediate state, between 

 the strictly herbaceous northern and the woody southern va- 

 rieties. 



Common Nightshade. Garden Nightshade. Amongst rubbish. 



and on dunghills, and in Kitchen Gardens. A. June — Oct.t 







* Boerhaave says it is a medicine far superior to China and SarsaparilU 

 as a sweetner and restorative. Linnaeus says an infusion of the young 

 twigs is an admirable medicine in acute rheumatisms, inflammations, 

 fevers, and suppression of the lochia. Dr. (till says he has found it very 

 efficacious in the asthma. Doctor Hallenberg advises it in ischifttic and 

 rheumatic pains, jaundice, scurvy, and lues venerea. He directs a pint of 

 boiling water to be poured upon % drams of the stalks sliced and dried, 

 after standing half an hour, it must be boiled 15 minutes. The dose is x 

 tea cups full or more, morning and evening. The stalks may be gathered 

 early in the spring, or at the end of autumn. Med. Comm. vol. 3 p. 15 — 

 The root has the smell of the potatoe. Dr. Beddoes.— Sheep and goats 

 ( at it. Horses, cows, and swine refuse it. 



+ From 1 to 3 grains of the leaves infused in boiling water, and taken 

 at bed- time, occasions a copious perspiration ; increases the secretion by 



the kidntyg, and Lcncrallv purges more or less the following day. These 



^ ' properties, 



