LXXXIX. SOLANACE.E. 273 



long, tubular-iufuudibuliform ; mouth wide ; limb plicate, entire or 

 shortly 5-10-lobed, the lobes often acuminate. Stamens attached near 

 the base of the tube, included ; filaments filiform ; anthers linear, 

 longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary 2- or spuriously 4-celled ; ovules 

 numerous ; style filiform ; stiguia 2-lobed. Capsule ellipsoid, 4-celled, 

 usually spinous, 4-valved or irregularly breaking up near the apex. 

 Seeds very many, compressed ; embryo peripheric. — Disteib. Temperate 

 and tropical regions ; species 10 or 12. 



1. Datura fastuosa, Linn. ^i/st. Nat. ed. 10 (1759) p. 932. Annual; 

 stem stout, 1-2 ft. high, somewhat zigzag, rather succulent, sottly 

 pubescent, divaricately branched. Leaves 3-6 by 1^-3 in., ovate, acute, 

 entire or with a few large teeth or lobes, usually covered with a fine 

 mealy pubescence (sometimes nearly glabrous), glaucous-green above, 

 paler beneath, usually rounded and very unequal at the base; main 

 nerves conspicuous, usually about 8 on one side of the midrib, 6 at the 

 other ; petioles 1-2 in. long. Elowers purple outside, usually white 

 inside, often double, solitary ; pedicels short, stout, pubescent. Calyx 

 reaching sometimes 3| in. long, finely pubescent; teeth ^-^ in. long, 

 triangular, very acute. Corolla 7 in. long or even more, often 4-5 in. 

 across at the mouth ; limb with 5 or 6 short acute deltoid lobes and a 

 short tail in the middle of each intervening sinus. Stamens about 

 eciualling the corolla-tube ; filaments slender ; anthers | in. long, oblong, 

 obtuse. Ovary clothed with soft prickles ; stigma 2-lobed. Capsules 

 nodding, on curved pedicels 1 1 in. in diam., subglobose, supported on 

 the reflexed base of the calyx, green, covered all over with numerous 

 straight sharp prickles. Seeds numerous, closely packed, compressed, 

 i in. in diam., nearlv smooth, yellowish-brown. FL B. I. v. 4, p. 242 ; 

 Grab. Cat. p. 141 ; Wight, Icon. t. 1396 ; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 3, p. 238 ; 

 Woodr. in Jouru. Bomb. Nat. v. 12 (1898) p. 473; Watt, Diet. Ecou. 

 Prod. V. 3, p. 32. Datura Hummatu, Bernh. in Tromms. N. Journ. 

 Pharm. v. 26 (1833) p. 153 ; Dalz. & Gibs. p. 174. — Plowers : Sept.- 

 Dec. Veen. Kdld-dhatura. 



Very common on rubbisli heaps throughout the Presidency. 



Var. alba, C. B. Clarke, in Hook. f. PI. B. I. v. 4 (1883) p. 213. 

 Flowers white or cream-colored, rather smaller than those of D. fastuosa 

 proper, single, not double as is often the case in that plant. Watt, 

 Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 3, p. 36. Datura alba (sp.), Nees, in Trans. Linn. 

 Soc. V. 17 (1834) p. 73 ; Wight, Icon. t. ^52 ; Grab. Cat. p. 141 ; 

 Dalz. & Gibs. p. 174. — Elowers : Sept.-Dec. Veen. Dhatiira. 



Found in the same localities as the preceding, than which it is even more common. 

 The seeds of both are highly poisonous, tlie nati\es being of opinion that thosd of the 

 purple-flowered plant {kad-dhniura) are the more deadly of the two. They are used 

 by roadside poisoners to stupify their victims and render the committal of theft 

 easy. Tiiey are also used to render liquor more intoxicating and as a remedy for 

 hydrophobia. For a full account see W'utt, Diet. Econ. Prod. 1. e. 



Datura Metel, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753) p. 179. A native (probably) of 

 Tropical America has been occasionally found, no doubt as an escape. 

 It has {e. g.) been found on a small island in the river at Poona. The 



