fleshy albumen, 

 unarmed or witli 



Solnuum.'] , Lxxxii. solane^. 443 



tlie bud. "Filaments usually veiy short, rarely as lono^ as the anthers; 

 anthers oblong or linear, erect and connivent, either -parallel or more fre- 

 quently tapering upwards and forming a cone round the style, opening at the 

 top in pores or transverse slits, rarely continued down the snles of the 

 anthers, without any prominent connectivura between the cells. Fruit a 

 berry, usually 2-celled rarely 4-cened (the cells divided by a spurious dissepi- 

 ment) or in species or varieties not Australian several-celled. Seeds several, 

 flattened, with a curved or spiral embryo surrounding a ^-=i-' -n— «n _ 



Herbs shrubs or rarelv low soft-wooded trees, either una..Mv.v. v.. 



prickles scattered on the" branches, on the principal veins of the leaves, espe- 

 cially on the upper surface and in some species also on the inflorescence and 

 calyxes, straight and slender in most Australian species, stout and recuryecl 

 in some others. Leaves alternate, but often in pairs, a smaller one being 

 developed in the axil of the larger one, entire or irregularly toothed lobed or 

 tlivided. Flowers normally in terminal centrifugal cymes ; but owing to tUe 

 rapid development of the branch, the inflorescence becomes usually lateral ana 

 very often, by the abortion of one branch, reduced to a simple unilateral appa- 

 rently centripetal raceme or to a single flower. Corolla usually blue purplisti 

 ox white or in species not Australian yellow, always tomentose outside in tiie 

 species where the tomcntura is stellate, but usually only on the par exposed 

 in the bud, with the induplicate margins glabrous. Style frequently cuivtd 

 ^0 one side, the stigma slightly dilated, entire or 2-lobed. 



A very large genus, spreaJ over the warmer nnd temperate regloas of t!ie gjobe but most 

 ^1>andant in tropi^'al Aracrica. Besides the introduced ^Pf ''-'^' t^^^^"^. .=^,7 S/ °.noth r 

 !cnbed below, of whieh one is a common weed over the ^^''^«I«:^"?^."V, nne ext^iXonly 

 1-Fead over the tropieal regions of the Old as -11 a. the New ; or d ; o^^ -^^^^^^^^^^ 



a. 



of this genus (most extrava- 



^"e uistuictiou aud determination ol tne numeruus ^,,.0 ...^ "■ ,■• ° ,;.,^ fliffimlties the 

 m\y multiplied bv Dunal in the ' Prodromus ') is attended w.th F'-''^ ''^'^^.'J^'^^' ^J^! 

 chief charaeters being derived from the very vnriabe ones of f"\'«£'. ^^^^^"^ 'e" „ 1 ia- 

 ^;entum. The sections proposed by Sendtner, Dunal, and f ^^^.^J^/^^^ j^^^^^^^ 



truces, and are searcelv applicable to the Australian ^P^"^^" . /*!; ^^..^^t^^^^^ ; 



Jed have a markd differeaee in the anthers, but ^^^'.'^^'''f'^f,'^^^^^ specC 



tte d,iferenees in the form of the eorolla, often very d.ffieult Jo a.eei tarn tr i ^^^ 



fm, are seldom in relation to other characters ; and the form and ^^l^^^^^l ^ I i,,,e 

 f a remarkable degree in some individual species. If, therefore "^ ^^e J^^t is not that 



«»nded the principal groups or series chleQy upon •"'5'''"'="*7, f/™beUe; way of lead- 

 ] regard them as good sections, but only because I have as yet founJ no better way 



'°? to the determiuatiou of the Australian species. 

 § 1. Noj^rickles, Whole plant ,Iah-ons or puhe scent v:UK smj^le kain {not siellaicY 



Aethers very obtuse, paraUel, the tcniiinal slits cotitinued more 

 or leas down the siJes. it 



A^.i>ual. Loaves ovatp on long petioles. Rowers very small, ^ ^ ^ ^^^^^ 



>n pedunculate umbels . - * * r * nr 



^ereimials or shrubs. Leaves lanceolate or linear, eutue or 



pianatifid. Flowers in short lateral loose racemes. 

 I*aves mostly acute, the longer cues with a few long looes. ^ ^ ^^iculare. 



Flowers large. Berries green or yellow - • • ' " " 

 leaves mostly obtnsc, very rarely and shortly lobed. J? lowei ^ ^ ^^ ^.^^^ .^^^ 



moderate. Berries purple .•••*'***" 



