REPORT OF THE BOTANIST. 89 



leaf. The leaves are roundish-ovate, 3 to 6 or more inches long, and 

 rather long-pointed, heart-shaped at the base, the margins with fine 

 blunt teeth, and with a stalk longer than the leaf. There are about 

 5 principal nerves diverging from the base. 



From the axil or angle of each leaf -stalk is produced a flower-stalk, 

 which develops 1 or 2 flowers or is sometimes extended into a branch- 

 ing raceme, with 3 to o flowers. The flovv^ers consist of an outer calyx, 

 cleft into 5 lobes or teeth, the corolla consisting of 5 oljovate orange- 

 yellow Detals, and a column of numerous stamens united into a tube, 

 which closely surrounds the 12 to 15 styles. The expanded flower 

 is half to three-fourths of an inch in diameter. After the fall of the 

 corolla the ovaries develop into a crowded mass of dry pods or cap- 

 sules, each one having 2 short stiff points or teeth, which spread or 

 radiate upward and outward. The base of this mass of carpels is 

 surrounded by the persistent calyx. The calyx and capsules are soft, 

 hairy, or pubescent. . 



In some parts of the country this plant is called stamp-weed, be- 

 cause the pods are used to ornament or stamp butter. 



This plant, originally from India, has spread quite extensively in 

 Europe and Asia, and also in the United States, where in some locali- 

 ties it has becom-e a serious weed in rich cultivated grounds. It was 

 long sold as an ornamental plant; but few, if any, seedsmen now 

 offer it. It possesses a strong fiber, which some have attempted to 

 utilize for manufacturing purposes. (See Report 1879, p. 50S.) Be- 

 ing an annual, and easily recognized, and generally confined as yet 

 to limited localities, it would seem to be more easy to get rid of than 

 many of our weeds. (Plate XI. ) 



Solanum Caroliniense (horse-nettle). 

 A low, perennial plant, with deep, running roots, belonging to the 

 order Solanacece, the same that contains the potato, tomato, &c. 

 The stems are 1 to 2 feet high, rather straggling, branching, and half- 

 shrubby at the base. The stems and the midnerve of the lower side 

 of the leaves are more or less thickly armed with short, sharp, stout, 

 yellowish prickles. The stem and leaves are also covered with minute 

 star-shaped hairs of from 4 to 8 points. The leaves are large for the 

 size of the plant, 2 to -i inches long, short-stalked, oblong in outline, 

 sometimes only coarsely and irregularly toothed, sometimes with 3 

 to 5 deep lobes on each side. The flowers are in racemes, mostly 

 from the axils of the upper leaves. There are from 3 to 10 flowers 

 on each raceme, on rather short pedicels. They are an inch or less in 

 diameter when expanded, having a S-partod calyx and a o-lobed bluish 

 or whitish, spreading corolla. The flowers are succeeded by round 

 berries, half to three-fourths of an inch in diameter, when mature 

 of a yellowish color, and filled with pulp and numerous small seeds. 

 The pedicels of the berries are reflexed, and the berries rem.ain upon 

 the plant into the winter. Common in the Southern and Western 

 States, and becoming too frequent in the ITorth. Darlington says: 



This is an exceedino^ly pernicious weed, and so tenacious of life that it is almost 

 impossible to get rid of it when once fully introduced. It grows in patches so thickly 

 as to deter ctock from feeding among it and even to monopolize the soil, while its 

 roots gradually extend around and to a gi-eat depth. 



It seems to prefer sandy soil, at least in the I^Torth. where it is 

 sometimes called sand-brier. As it is perennial, and spreads by the 

 root, only the most thorough treatment will eradicate it. 



Plate XII, Fig. 1, a branch; Fig. 2, a raceme of mature berries. 



