330 



THE KINDS OF PLANTS 



1. SOLANUM. NIGHTSHADE. 



Perennials or annuals : calyx and corolla 5-parted, the latter rotate : 

 stamens 5, exserted, the anthers separate and opening by a pore in the top : 

 berry 2-loculed. 



a. Plants not prickly. 



S. tuberdsum, Linn. Potato. Figs. 42, p. 35, 219. Low, diffuse-growing 

 perennial, producing stem-tubers on slender underground rootstocks: leaves 

 pinnate, the leaflets differing in size and ovate : flowers bluish : berries globu- 

 lar, yellowish green. Warm temperate elevations of tropical America. 



S. nigrum, Linn. Common nightshade. Branchy annual, 1-2 ft., nearly 

 smooth: leaves ovate, wavy-margined: flowers small, white: berries small, 

 black. Waste places. 



S. Dulcamara, Linn. Bittersweet. Tall, loosely climbing: leaves cor- 

 date-ovate, sometimes 3-lobed, often with 2 or 4 small leaflets at the base: 

 flowers small, violet-purple: berries oval, red. Perennial. Common, 

 aa. Plants prickly. 



S. Melongena, Linn. Eggplant. Guinea squash. Fig. 261. Stout annual 

 with large, ovate, somewhat angled pubescent leaves: flower large, purplish, 

 the calyx prickly: fruit a very large purple or white berry (often weighing 

 several pounds). India. 



2. LYCOPERSICUM, TOMATO. 



Differs from Solanum chiefly in having the anthers united at their 

 tips by a membrane and opening by lengthwise slits. 



L. esculentum, Mill. Common tomato. Fig. 186. 

 Tall, hairy, strong-smelling herb, with pinnate leaves, 

 the leaflets ovate and unequal-sided and of different 

 sizes: flowers small, yellow, in short forked racemes: 

 fruit a large red or yellow berry. South America. 



3. CAPSICUM. BED PEPPER. 



Erect, branchy, smooth herbs: stamens with slen- 

 der filaments which are much longer than the separate 



488. Capsicum aimuum. anthers, the latter opening by lengthwise slits : fruit 



globular, long or irregular, firm. 



C. annuum, Linn. Common red pepper. Fig. 488. Annual or biennial, 

 with ovate entire leaves: flowers white, with very short-toothed or trun- 

 cate calyx : fruit very various in the cultivated varieties. Tfop. Amer. 



4. PETUNIA. PETUNIA. 



Clammy-hairy diffuse herbs : calyx-lobes leaf- 

 like and much longer than the tube : corolla fun- 

 nel-form, showy, the stamens not projecting : 

 fruit 2-loculed, capsular. South America. 



P. nyctag . if!6it,Juss. White petunia. Fig. 



489. Corolla white, very long-tubed : leaves 

 oval-oblong, narrowed into a petiole. Old 



gardens. 489. Petunia nyctaginiflora. 



