Capsicum. XCIX. SOLANACEZ. 447 
fields. It is a large, coarse herb, 2—5r high, very branching. Leaves large, 
oblong, decurrent. Corolla slightly lobed, pale blue, white and with 5 blue spots 
in the centre. July—Sept. § 
6. PH YSALIS. 
| Gr. gvots, a bladder; the inflated calyx enclosing the fruit. 
Calyx 5-cleft, persistent, at length ventricose ; corolla campanu- 
late-rotate, tube very short, limb obscurely 5-lobed; stamens 5, con- 
nivent; berry globose, enclosed within the inflated, 5-angled, colored 
calyx.— Herbs, rarely shrubs, with axillary or supra-axillary flowers. 
1. P. viscdsa. Aikin. (P. viscosa, obscura, pubescens, Pennsylvanica and 
Philadelphica, of authors.) Yellow-Henbane. Ground Cherry.—Pubescent; 
st. decumbent, herbaceous ; branches somewhat dichotomous and angular; ls. 
solitary or in pairs, ovate, more or less cordate, repand-toothed or entire; js. 
solitary, axillary, pendulous.—Dry fields, roadsides, &c. Stem more or less 
decumbent, about a foot high, often viscid as well as the whole plant. Leaves 
very variable in the same plant, 1—4’ long, of 3, 3, or even of equal breadth, 
acute, acuminate, or often obtuse at the apex, often abrupt at base, sometimes 
nearly or quite entire on the margin, twice as long as the petioles; when in 
pairs one of them is much smaller. Corolla twice as long as the calyx, green- 
ish-yellow, with 5 brownish spots at base inside. Fruit yellow or orange-colored, 
not unpleasant to the taste, enclosed in the enlarged, inflated, angular calyx. Jl. 
a. Lvs. somewhat viscid, oval, subcordate, geminate. 
8. (P. Pennsylvanica. Linn.) Lvs. ovate and lance-ovate, subentire, nearly 
smooth, geminate. 
y. (P. obscura. Michz.) Lws. pubescent, broad-ovate, subcordate, subsolitary. 
eae a atid conaancden conouring with Der Adagin ae ever © eee eee 
2. P. uanceoLatTa. Michx. Lance-leaved Physalis. 
St. herbaceous, dichotomously branched, densely pubescent; Jvs. mostly 
in pairs, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, entire, unequal at base ; fis. solitary, nod- 
ding ; cal. villose—2| Penn., Western States, S. to Ga. Stem 1—2f high. 
Leaves 3—6’ by 14—3’, often very unequal at base. Flowers nodding. Calyx 
half-cleft, with lanceolate, acuminate segments. Corolla pale greenish-yellow, 
with dark spots at base. Jl.- Darl. Fl. Cest., p. 139.—I strongly suspect this to 
be only another variety of the preceding. 
P. ALKEKENGI. Winter Cherry—=St. somewhat branching below; Jvs. in pairs, 
entire, acute; cal. of the fruit red or reddish—Native of S. Europe, cultivated 
for ornament. Plant about afoot high. Flowers white. Berries acid and 
somewhat bitter. ft 
7. CAPSICUM. Tour. 
Gr. karTw, to bite ; from the acridity of the fruit.. 
Calyx erect, 5-cleft, persistent ; cor. rotate, tube very short; limb 
plaited, 5-lobed; anth. connivent; fr. capsular, dry, inflated, 2—3- 
celled ; seeds flat, very acrid —A large genus of herbaceous or shrubby 
plants, pervaded by a heating, acrid principle. Lvs. often in pairs. 
Ped. axillary, solitary. 
1, C. annuum. Red Pepper. Cayenne Pepper—St. herbaceous, angular, 
branching above; vs. ovate, acuminate, entire, petiolate, glabrous; ped. smooth, 
axillary; cal. angular, with short, acute lobes ; cor. lobes spreading, longer than 
the stamens ; berry oblong or subglobose, red.—@ India. Cultivated for its 
fruit, whose stimulant properties are well known.—There are in gardens seve- 
ral varieties in respect to the fruit. a. The long, or Cayenne, @. the depressed- 
globose or squash pepper, best for pickling, y. the cherry pepper, used for pep- 
per-sauce and in seasoning meat, d. the sweet Spanish pepper, used asa salad.— 
Sown in March in “tiated transplanted in May. Kenrick, Am. Orch., p. 374. ¢ 
38 
