576 Order 94.— SOLANACE^. 



3. adpressa Engelm. Cor. broader ; caps, less pointed ; ads. 2 to 4. — 111. to 

 Va. and La., on Rhus, Smilax, &c. 



Order XCIY. SOLANACE.E. Nightshades. 



Plants liorbaceous, rarely shrubby, with a colorless juice and alternato leaves. 

 Flowers mostly regular, often extra-axillary, 5-parted, on bractless pedicels. Cor- 

 olla valvato or plicate in the bud and often convolute. Calyx persistent. Stamens 

 5, adherent to the corolla tube, alternato with its lobes; anthers 2-celled. Fruit a 

 2 -celled capsule or berry. Seeds co, with a curved embryo in fleshy albumen. 



lllust. in Figs. 54,822. 



Genera 64, species 1000 or more (1075, Dunal.), generally diffused, but most abundant in the 

 tropics. 



Properties highly important. A large portion of the genera are pervaded by a narcotic prin- 

 ciple, rendering the herbage and fruit dangerously poisonous, yet furnishing some of the most 

 active medicines, as the Henbane (Uyoseyainus), Belladonna (Atropa), Stramonium (Datura), 

 Tobacco (Nicotiana), &c. At the same time several species of Solatium afford wholesome and 

 nutritious food, not because they are free from the narcotic principle, but because it is expelled 

 La the process of cooking or ripening in the sun. Such are the tubers of the invaluable Potato, 

 the fruit of tlic Tomato and Egg plant. The genus Capsicum is entirely free from aarcotine, 

 and produces the well-known stimulant fruit Cayenne Pepper. 



GENERA. 



5 Corolla wheel-shaped, the tube very short. Anthers convergent (a). 

 § Corolla bell-shaped, the broad tube including the erect anthers (b). 

 <f Corolla funnel-form, tube long, and — the limb somewhat irregular (c). 

 — the limb quite regular (d). 



a Stamens connate, opening by slits inside. Berry torous Lycospersicum. 1 



a Stamens connivent, opening by terminal pores. Berry round Solanum. 2 



a Stamens connivent, opening by slits. Berry dryish, angular Capsicum. 8 



b Corolla bluish. Berry dry, inclosed in the enlarged calyx Nicandra. 4 



b Corolla yellowish. Berry juicy, inclosed in tho enlarged calyx Physalis. 5 



b Corolla purplish. Berry black, sitting on the open calyx Atropa. 6 



C Stamens exserted, declining. Capsule opening by a lid Hyoscyamus. 7 



C Stamens included, unequal. Capsule opening by valves Petunia. 8 



d Stamens exserted, growing to the summit of tho tube Neiremdf.roia. 9 



d Stamens exserted, growing to tho bottom of the tube Lycium. 10 



d Stamens included. — Calyx 5-angled. Capsule spiny or smooth Datura. 11 



—Calyx terete. Stigma capitate Nicotiana. 12 



— Calyx teretish. Stigma 2-lobed. Flowers small Fabiana. 13 



1. LYCOSPEFVSICUM, Tourn. Tomato. (Gr. Xvicoc, a wolf, Trepauwv, 

 a peach; a fanciful name.) Calyx 5 to G to co parted ; corolla rotate, 

 with a short tube and a plicate-valvate limb; stamens 5 to 6 to co, ex- 

 serted ; anthers connate at apex, longitudinally dehiscent on the inner 

 face; berry fleshy, 2 to 3 to co-celled. — Lvs. pinnately compound. 

 Ped. extra-axillary, co-flowered. 



L. esculentum Mill. Hairy; st. herbaceous, weak; lvs. unequally pinnatifid, 

 segments cut, glaucous beneath ; cor. many-lobed ; jr. torulous, furrowed, 

 smooth. — D This plant resembles the potato in its general aspect. It grows 3 

 — if high, with jagged leaves, greenish-yellow flowers, and an unpleasant odor. 

 The fruit is large and abundant, with acute farrows, at first green, becoming 

 when ripe of a beautiful red. This plant has come into high repute, and its culti- 

 vation is almost universal, for its agreeable and wholesome fruit, which presents 

 numerous varieties of form, size and color. 



2. SOLA'NUM, L. Potato. (Derivation unknown.) Calyx 5- 

 parted, persistent ; corolla rotate, subcampanulate, tube very short, 

 limb plicate, 5-cleft, lobed or angular ; anthers erect, connivent, dis- 

 tinct, opening at the top by 2 pores; berry 2-celled, subglobous or de- 

 pressed ; seeds co. — An immense genus of herbs or shrubs, unarmed or 



