DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS 199 



L LYCIUM, L. 



Shrubs or woody vines, often spiny. Leaves entire, alter- 

 nate, often fascicled. Flowers solitary or clustered, terminal 

 or axillary. Calyx persistent, 4-5-lobed or toothed, not en- 

 larged in fruit. Corolla funnel-form or bell-shaped, the limb 

 4-5-lobed, the lobes obtuse. Stamens 4-5, projecting. Ovary 

 2-celled ; style single ; stigma obtuse. Fruit a many-seeded 

 berry,* 



1. L. vulgare, Dunal. Matrimony Vine. Stem slender, branch- 

 ing, twining or trailing, 6-15 ft. long; branches angled, spiny. 

 Leaves ellij)tical, smooth, entire, sessile, or short-petioled. Flowers 

 solitary or few in the axils ; peduncles long and slender. Corolla 

 spreading, greenish-purple, ^-^ in. wdde. Berry oval, orange-red. 

 Introduced from Africa, and often planted for covering trellises.* 



II. SOLANUM, Toum. 



Herbs or shrubs ; stems often prickly, sometimes climbing. 

 Leaves alternate, often nearly or quite opposite. Flowers 

 clustered, the peduncles often opposite or above the axils. 

 Calyx spreading, 5-toothed or 5-cleft, persistent. Corolla 

 wheel-shaped, 5-lobed. Stamens 5, projecting, the filaments 

 very short, the anthers long and meeting about the style. 

 Ovary 2-celled ; style slender. Fruit a many-seeded, juicy 

 berry.* 



1. S. Dulcamara, L. Bittersweet. Perennial. Stems rather 

 shrubby, long, and climbing. Leaves heart-shaped, or some of them 

 with irregular lobes, or ear-like leaflets at the base. Flowers blue 

 or purple, somewhat cymose. Berries show^y, of many shades of 

 orange and red in the same cluster, according to their maturity. 



2. S. nigrum, L. Nightshade. Annual; stem smooth, or 

 downy with simple hairs, erect, diffusely branched ; branches wing- 

 angled, 1-3 ft. high. Leaves ovate, irregularly toothed or entire, 

 somewhat inequilateral, petioled. Flowers in lateral, peduncled um- 

 bels, small, wiiite, drooping. Calyx-lobes obtuse ; corolla ^-^ in. 

 wide ; filaments downy ; berries globose, smooth, black w^hen ripe. 

 Common in cultivated fields and waste places.* 



3. S. carolinense, L, Horse Nettle, Perennial; stem erect, 

 branched, dow^ny with star-shaped hairs, armed with straight, yellow 

 prickles, 1-3 ft, high. Leaves ovate-oblong, deeply toothed or lobed, 



