WEEDS OF THE POTATO FAMILY. 



127 



A weed of the western plains which, through seed in hay and 

 by railways, is gradually spreading eastward. Occurs in dry up- 

 land or sandy lowland soil. May-Sept. It was first taken by the 

 writer in Vigo County in 1888, aoid in the State catalogue of plants 

 is listed from six other widely scattered counties. It has been re- 

 corded as being one of the 34 worst weeds in the United States* 

 and should be destroyed on sight. In some places it is called the 

 " potato bug plant/' as it was the original food of the Colorado 

 potato beetle. When, about 1865, potato cultivation began in Colo- 

 rado and Nebraska, the beetle found the new plant more to its 

 liking and less spiny to crawl over, and practically forsook its old 

 host, to the great detriment of potato growers throughout the land. 

 The plant has been aptly described as appearing like a cross be- 

 tween a thistle and a potato. Being an annual it can be easily 

 controlled by pulling or cutting before the berries ripen. 



93. SOLANUM NIGBUM L. Black Nightshade. Deadly Nightshade. (A. N. 2.) 

 Erect, angular, much branched, glabrous or sparingly hairy, 1-2 feet 

 high ; leaves ovate, stalked, wavy-toothed, 2-1 inches long, bases oblique. 

 Flowers white, drooping, in small umbel-like clusters. Berries globular, 

 smooth, black, jui'cy, 1/3 inch in diameter. (Figs. 10, d', 91.) 



Common in gardens, old fields and 

 shaded waste grounds, especially about 

 dwellings and outbuildings. July-Oct. 

 While probably a native it has been 

 widely distributed in nearly all countries 

 as a weed. It is a homely, ill-smelling 

 poisonous plant which should be kept 

 away from the vicinity of all dwellings as 

 its grape-like berries are apt to be eaten 

 by children with serious results, and 

 calves, sheep and hogs are often poisoned 

 by them. The principal symptoms of the 

 poison are dilation of the pupil of the eye, 

 stupefaction, staggering, loss of speech, 

 feeling and consciousness. Like other an- 

 nuals, the plant may be easily eradicated 

 by pulling or cutting before the berries 

 mature. 



Fig. 91. (After chesnut.) rp^ climbin g nightshade or bitter- 



sweet (Solanum dulcamara L.) is an introduced and closely allied 

 species, whose stem is climbing or straggling, 2-10 feet long, with 



*Halstead, Bot. Gaz., April, 1889. 



