Il6 POISONOUS PLANTS 



miin Dulcamara). — This is a familiar plant, scramb- 

 ling or climbing over our hedges, with single or 

 trifoliate, oval leaves. Clusters of purple flowers 

 arise from a point in the stem above a leaf, and 

 not as usual from its axil. There is a small calyx 

 of five coherent sepals ; a corolla of five coherent 

 petals carrying the five adherent stamens. The 

 anthers are sub-coherent, forming a cone and 

 dehisce by terminal pores. The pistil of two 

 carpels becomes an oval scarlet berry. 



There is a deleterious principle called Solanine, 

 which is found in all the species of Solanum. As 

 it occurs in the stem and leaves of the Bittersweet 

 — this name being derived from the taste of the 

 stem, being at first bitter, followed by a sweetish 

 flavour — these parts must be regarded as suspicious ; 

 indeed, they have been proved to have narcotic 

 properties, producing giddiness and sickness when 

 eaten. 



With regard to the berries, there is no doubt 

 that they are very harmful. Two children died a 

 short time ago near Birmingham who had been 

 eating a variety of berries, including the poisonous 

 ones of Lords and Ladies {Arum maculatum\ and 

 also those of the Woody Nightshade. Moreover, 

 evidence of the presence of the poisonous principle 

 Solanine was detected. 



Solanine is especially connected with the green 

 parts ; so that even if the ripe berries proved 



