NAT. ORDER. 



Solanece. 



BELLADONNA PURPUREUS. BELLADONNA LILY. 



Class VI. Hexandria. Order I. Monogynia. 



Gen. Char. Leaves, hiemal, arcuate. Scape, autumnal, before the 

 leaves. Umbel, many-flowered, pedunculated, divaricate. 

 Germen, triangularly obovate. Tube, narrow, funnel-shaped. 

 Anthers, incumbent. 



Spe. Char. Leaves, lorate-linear, channelled. Perianth, funnel- 

 shaped. Segments, acuminate, recurvedly spreading. 

 This species of the Belladonna, has a thick, whitish root, 

 which is perennial, and sends forth strong branched, purple-colored 

 stems, from four to six feet in height ; the leaves are of unequal 

 size, entire, oval, pointed, and stand in pairs, upon short footstalks ; 

 the flowers are of a light pink color, but striped with a purple 

 red, large, pendent, bell-shaped, furrowed, and the limb cut into 

 five segments. The whole plant is covered with very fine hairs or 

 down. T!\ie Jloicers appear in June or July ; but the seeds are 

 not ripe till September, when they acquire a shining black color. 

 It grows in shady and stony waste grounds, but is not very com- 

 mon in any country except China. A few plants have been sent 

 to this country, but will not flower unless kept in the hot-houses, 

 and with great care. 



Whether this plant is the " king of poisons," as mentioned by 

 Dioscorides, or not, botanists have not yet ascertained ; but it has 

 certainly been long known by the Chinese, as a strong poison, of 

 the narcotic kind ; and the berries, though less powerful than the 



a Vol. iii.— 37 



