220 



WEEDS OF THE FARM AND GARDEN 



close axillary whorls ; corolla bearded. Native to Europe, 



widely naturalized in the northern states. 



Peppermint (Mentha piperita, L.). Smooth, erect, 



perennial herb with creeping rootstocks from one to two 



feet high; leaves petioled, ovate, oblong to oblong- 

 lanceolate, acute and sharply 

 serrate ; flowers whorled in in- 

 terrupted, loose, 1 e a fl e s s 

 spikes; purplish or whitish. 

 Commonly escaped from cul- 

 tivation and troublesome in 

 the East. 



Nightshade Family (Sola- 

 naceae). Herbs or vines, 

 rarely shrubs ; alternate 

 leaves, sometimes opposite, in 

 pairs and unequal (in a few of 

 the tropical species, alternate 

 without stipules) ; flowers 

 regular or nearly so, borne in 

 cymes; calyx inferior, five- 



lobed; stamens as many as 

 lobes Qf the CQrolla &nd 



alternate with them, inserted 

 on the tube, generally equal ; style and stigma one ; pla- 

 centse in the axils ; ovules numerous ; fruit a berry or cap- 

 sule. A large family, chiefly tropical, consisting of 70 

 genera and 1,600 species, several of these being important 

 medicinal plants and others valuable food plants. 



Common Nightshade or Stubbleberry (Solanum nigrum, 

 L.). Annual, low-branched and often spreading; gla- 

 brous or hairy, hairs simple, roughened on the angles; 

 leaves ovate, petioled, flowers white, in small, umbel-like 

 drooping lateral clusters ; calyx spreading, the lobes ob- 

 tuse, much shorter than the white corolla ; berries 

 glabrous, black, occasionally large. Found in northern 



Fig. 139. Black 

 (Solanum nigrum). 



nightshade 



