2IO ll.OWERS OF WASTK J'LACES, ETC. 



spots in a ring at the base, or in lln' niitkllc, ot the shiny x'iolet 

 corolla below each segment which serve as honey-guides, and then 

 strokes the tips of the anthers with its labelke. The stamens are 

 ])lackish-purple, inserted on the tube of the corolla. The anthers are 

 yellow, and form a sub-conical tube round the pistil, with a pore at the 

 end. The greenish knobs ma)- be pierced and sucked l)y insects. The 

 style is longer than the stamens, the stigma l)lunt and simple. I he 

 plant is visited by pollen-collecting Bombi and pollen-feeding Syrphid.e. 



The berry, containing many kidney-shaped, tapered seeds, is dis- 

 persed chiefly by falling ripe on the ground in winter, but occasionally 

 is eaten by birds and man. Tlie seeds are pitted and mugh, white, 

 cartilaginous.. 



The plant is a sand plant growing in .sand soil ; or it may grow 

 in saline soil by the sea-coast, when it is a halophyte, but it usually 

 prefers a sandy loam with some humus in it. 



Bittersweet is infested, like the potato, to which genus it belongs, 

 with a fungus, Phytophthora injestims, potato disease. Several beetles 

 infest it, Pria du/canmi'a-, ]\Icligelhes incanuSs Crcpidodcra vciitrahs, 

 Epitrix pubescens, Psylliodcs affiiiis, P. dn/caniar^r ; 2 moths, Gckchia 

 costcl/a, .IcroUpia pyo)na-aiia\ and a 1 leteropterous insect, Cyuiiis 

 glandicolor. 



So/aiiiiDi, Pliny, is the Latin name for this or a similar plant. Dii/- 

 caniara, Dodona^us, is Latin for Bittersweet, which is so called because 

 the bark is first bitter then sweet. 



The following are some of the names by which Bittersweet is also 

 known : Aw'f ood, Belladonna, Blue Bindweed, Bittersweet, Deadly 

 Nightshade, Dogwood, Dwale, Fellon-wood, Fellonwort, J\Lad Dog's 

 Berries, Bittersweet Nightshade, Wood Nightshade, Poison-berrv. 

 Poison Flower, Poisonous Tea Plant, Pushion Berry, Robin-in-the- 

 Hedge, Skaw-coo, Snake-berry, Snake's Poison-food. Sweet Bitter, 

 Terrididdle or Terrydivle, Tether Devil. The name P'ellonwort is 

 explained by Coles thus : " The leaves or berries stamf)ed with musty 

 bacon, ap[)lyed to that joynt of the finger that is troubled with a lelon, 

 hath brcn found to be \'erv sucessful lor the curing of tlie sami' ". 



In mediajval times it was used in witches" potions as charms and 

 spells ; 



" .-\nd I ha been plucking- plants among 

 Hemlock, Henbane, Adder's Tongue, 

 Xightshade, Moonwort, Hibbard's Bane; 

 -And twice by the dogs was like to be ta'en ". 



— Ren Jonson, Miisquc of Queens. 



