DEADLY NIGHTSHADE 21 r 



It was held to be a plain of ill Dincn, ot which Gerardc sa\s; "It 

 you will tullow my counsel, ileal not with the same in an\' case, and 

 banish it from your <;'ardens, and the use ot it also, being a plant so 

 furious and deadly, ior it bringeth such as ha\e eaten thereof into a 

 dead sleep, wherein many ha\e diecl ". When dried the shoots are 

 used for skin diseases. The berries are poisonous, causing vomiting. 

 The rot)ts smell like the potato, Ijut aix- bitter when chewed. The 

 leaves have been used tor scurvy and rheumatism. 



ESSKXTIAL Sl'KCIKIC CHARACTERS: — 



223. Solamtiu Dii/caniara, L. — Shrubby, wootly, climl)ing, leaves 

 cordate, upper hastate, tlowers purple, with two green spots at the base 

 of each segment, drooping, anthers yellow, united to form a cone, 

 berries scarlet, [)oisonous. 



Deadly Nightshade (Atropa Belladonna, L.) 



This is one ot those southern plants which rarely appear in the 

 deposits containing seeds of ancient plants. The present range of 

 Deadly Nightshade in the N. Temperate Zone is south of Denmark 

 in Europe, N. Africa, and it is introduced in North America. In 

 Great Britain it occurs in .S. Wilts, Hants, W. Sussex; in the Thames 

 province, except in Essex; Anglia, except in E. Suftolk, Norfolk, 

 Hunts; in the Severn province, except in Worcester, .Salop, Flint, 

 West Lanes; in the Humber province, except in S.E. Yorks ; in the 

 Tyne |)rovince, except in \\ estmorlaml. It is probably indigenous 

 on chalk antl limestone, being often naturalized near ruins, from West- 

 morland to the south coast. In Scotland it is found neai- houses. It 

 is native in Ireland and the Channel Islands, in so tar as it can be 

 called native anywhere. 



The habitat of this plant is imdoubtedK' artihci.il in the majorit)' ot 

 cases, e.g. in quarries, along railway banks, &c. Watson says: " This 

 plant possibly may be indigenous in some of the chalk or limestone 

 districts. The roots are long lasting, and the seedling plants spring 

 up freely in gardens; peculiarities which tend to establish the plant 

 in localities to which it ma\- originally have been carried b\ lumian 

 hands. The localities on record for it afford not a tew instances 

 in illustration of the delusive manner in which superficial botanists 

 have endeavoured to palm ott the artillcial as if genuinely indigenous 

 localities." 



The stems are herbaceous, stout, numerous, branched, often purple, 

 glandular above. The leaves are stalked, egg-shaped, entire, smooth, 



