348 SOLANACE^. (nightshade FAMILY.) 



» 

 seeded capsule or berry. PlacentEe adnate to the partition and projecting 

 into the cells. Seeds campylotropous or amphitropous. Embryo mostly 

 blender and curved in fleshy albumen. — Chiefly narcotic poisons. 



Synopsis. 



§ 1. Fruit a berry. 



* Corolla wheel-shaped or short bell-shaped. 



■I- Anthers connivent. Calyx unchanged in fruit. 



1. SOLANTJM. Anthers opening by terminal pores. Berry juicy. 



2. CAPSICUM. Anthers opening lengthwise. Berry juiceless. 



■I- ■>- Anthers separate, opening lengthwise. Fruiting calyx inflated- 



3. PHYSALIS. B:'i-ry juicy. Calyx entire at the base. 



4. NICANDRA. Berry dry. Calyx 10-toothed at the base. 



* * Corolla funnel-shaped. 



5. LYCITJM. Anthers opening lengthwise. Berry juicy. Shrubs. 



§ 2. Fruit a capsule. 



6. DATURA. Calyx prismatic or terete, circumscissile. Capsule spiny. 



1. SOLANUM, L. Nightshade. 



Calyx 5-toothed or 5-cleft. Corolla wheel-shaped, 5-lobed, valvate, with the 

 margins turned inward. Stamens 5, inserted on the throat of the corolla, ex- 

 serted ; the filaments very short : anthers opening by 2 terminal pores, conni- 

 vent. Stigma obtuse. Berry juicy, 2-celled, many-seeded. — Herbs or shrubs, 

 often armed with prickles. Leaves alternate or in pairs. Flowers opposite the 

 axils, or above them. 



* Unarmed: cymes or racemes corymbed : corolla 5-pai1,ed. 



1. S. nigrum, L. Herbaceous, mostly pubescent with simple hairs; stem 

 erect, branching ; the branchlets wing-angled, and more or less toothed ; leaves 

 petioled, oblong-ovate, toothed or entire ; flowers somewhat umbelled, drooping, 

 small, white; beiTy black. — Damp soil, Florida to Mississippi, and northward. 

 July -Sept. — Stem l°-3° high, diifuse. Leaves 2' -4' long, when in pairs, 

 unequal. Corolla 4" - 6" wide. Berry 2" - 3" in diameter. 



2. S. Radula, Vahl. Shrubby, and very rough throughout with short 

 rigid rusty stellate hairs ; leaves oblong, entire, acute, tapering into a sliort peti- 

 ole; cymes slender, long-pedunclcd, once or twice forking, many- flowered, 

 longer than the leaves ; flowers small, linear in the bud ; corolla white, deeply 

 parted, the lobes linear-lanceolate, obtuse ; anthers hairy. — South Florida. — 

 Leaves 2' -3' long. Cymes 3' -4' long. Corolla 5" wide. 



3. S. verbascifolium, L. Shrubby, and hoary throughout with dense 

 soft stellate hairs ; leaves large, ovate-oblong, acute at each end, entire ; cymes 

 on long and veiy stout peduncles, forking, compactly many-flowered ; flowers 

 globose^obovate in the bud ; calyx-lobes ovate, acute ; corolla-lobes oblong, 

 obtuse , anthers oblong, twice as long as the slender filaments ; ovary woolly. — 

 South Florida. Oct. - Dec. — Shrub 4° -5° high. Leaves 6' -9' long. Co- 

 rolla A' wide 



