THE POTATOE FAMILY. 223 



than one season. Chorlton ; Heaton Norris ; Bowdon ; Eccles. Fl. 

 July. Annual. 



Curtis, ii. 381 ; E. B. xviii. 1288; Baxter, ii. 121. 



2. Bitter-sweet Nightshade — {Soldnum Dulc-amara.) 

 In damp hedges, and among the tangled masses of summer vege- 

 tation on the borders of ponds and ditches, common everywhere. 

 Fl. June, July. 



Curtis, i. U ; E. B. viii. 505 ; Baxter, ii. 110. 



Few plants that grow in our hedges adorn them more beautifully than the 

 Litter-sweet nightshade, whether regarded as to its purple and starlike flowers, or 

 the deHcate translucent crimson of its ripened berries, which hang in clusters 

 till shrivelled by the frost, and long after the leaves are gone. Unhappily, it is 

 deleterious. The leaves are strongly narcotic, and the berries, though it does 

 not appear that they are inevitably poisonous, certainly most dangerous to the 

 eater. It is very commonly thought to be the deadly -mg\itsha.Ae, or Atropa Bella- 

 donna, (Curtis, ii. 308.) but the Atropa has solitary and bell-shaped flowers 

 instead of clustered and starlike ones, and the fruit, instead of being red, 

 resembles a small black cherry. This terrible plant nowhere exists wild in 

 our neighbourhood, that I am aware of, or nearer than at Furness Abbey, where 

 a httle still remains. 



3. BEACK-FRtriTED NIGHTSHADE — [Soldnum nigrum.) 



Waste and cultivated ground, rather rare. Hale Moss, plentiful. 

 As a garden weed, about Bowdon, Baguley, Eccles (J. S.), Leigh 

 (J. E.), and Prestwich, at which latter place has been found a variety 

 with green berries. (J. P.) Fl. June— August. Annual. 



Curtis, i. 80 ; E. B. viii. 566. 



The narcotic qualities of this species are considerably more active than those 

 of the Dulc-amara, but the berries are fortunately so little tempting in appear- 

 ance, that they are not likely to be tasted even by children. 



The henbane, or Ilyoscyamus niger, (E. B. ix. 591.) formerly grew in small 

 quantity in Bowdon churchyard, but has long since been extirpated, and now 

 there is no nearer locality, that I am aware of, than Halton Castle, near Runcorn. 

 It is abundant in North Wales, and at Peel Castle, in the Isle of Man, Like the 

 Atropa, it is occasionally cultivated by the curious. 



Many rich flowers of the Solanacere embellish our gardens and green-houses, 

 especially those of the beautiful genus Petunia, which are universal. The others 

 are called Nierembergia, Cistrum, Datura, Soldnum, Nicundra, Physalis, &c. 

 Tobacco is grown now and then, and makes a handsome border plant for the 

 autumn. It is also raised in pots as a curiosity for the parlour. The capsicum 

 and the love-apple or tomato, are pretty frequent, and the potatoe of course is 



