CHAP. IX.] SOLANACE^. 145 



yellow, but sometimes white or ^reen. The 

 best Cayenne pepper is made from the pods of 

 C.frutescens^ dried in an oven and then reduced 

 to powder. The annual species (C. anniium) has 

 many varieties; one of which produces the small 

 pods called by the market-gardeners Chilies, 

 and which are eaten fresh by dyspeptic patients, 

 to assist digestion. 



The Winter Cherry {Physalis Alkekengi) has 

 the same kind of flower as the other genera of 

 this tribe. The corolla is rotate, and obscurely 

 five-lobed; and the stamens, which are conni- 

 vent, (that is, lying close together), have very 

 large anthers. When the corolla falls, the calyx 

 becomes inflated, and expands to a large size, 

 completely enclosing the little berry-like fruit in 

 the centre. A very beautiful preparation may be 

 made by soaking this calyx in water till it becomes 

 completely macerated ; that is, till all the pulp 

 is decayed and only the fibrous part left. The in- 

 flated calyx then appears like a beautiful network 

 covering, with the bright red berry in the centre. 

 To macerate the calyx properly, it should be 

 left in the same water without changing, for 

 about six weeks. The Cape Gooseberry (P. 

 peruviana) is another species of the genus 

 Physalis ; but instead of being a native of 

 Europe, it is from Peru ; and its flowers, instead 

 of being white, are yellow, with a dark red spot 



