SOLANACE^:. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 293. 



HYOSCYAMUS. 



Calyx tubular, inflated at the base, 5-toothed, permanent. 

 Corolla funnel-shaped, irregular, with a spreading unequal limb, 

 divided into 5, obtuse segments. Filaments nearly equal. 

 Stigma capitate. Capsule opening transversely by a convex lid, 

 2-celled, many-seeded. 



1065. H. niger Linn, sp.pl 257. Eng. Bot. t. 591. Woodv. 

 t. 52. Smith Eng. Fl. i. 315. Waste grounds and commons 

 throughout Europe. (Henbane.) 



Biennial. Stem from 6 inches to 2 feet high, taper, scarcely branched, 

 covered closely with long weak hairs tipped with a minute black 

 gland. Leaves sessile, occasionally somewhat decurrent, stem clasping, 

 oblong, acute, coarsely and unequally slashed, pale dull green, slightly 

 pubescent, with long glandular hairs, like those of the stem, upon the 

 midrib. Flowers axillary, subsolitary, nearly sessile, embosomed in the 

 uppermost leaves, than which they are much shorter. Calyx funnel- 

 shaped, villous, 5-lobed, regular, wider than the corolla, to whose tube it is 

 equal in length : each lobe ovate, acute, with an open aestivation. Corolla 

 dull dirty yellow strongly netted with purple veins, and deep purple at 

 the orifice, funnel-shaped, with a somewhat erect limb, which is 5-lobed; 

 lobes rounded, the two anterior a little smaller than the others, and 

 separated at the base by a deep slit in the tube. Stamens 5, declinate, 

 straight, shorter than the corolla, the three lower longer than the 

 others ; filaments pubescent, inserted about the middle of the tube of 

 the corolla. Ovary nearly round, shining, pale green, 2-celled, with 

 numerous ovules adhering to the dissepiment ; style filiform, declinate, 

 purple at the apex; stigma capitate. Fruit an ovate, many-seeded 

 pyxis. A powerful narcotic, the capsules and seeds of which, smoked 

 like Tobacco, are a rustic remedy for toothach, but convulsions and 

 temporary insanity are said to be sometimes the consequence of their 

 use. Used medicinally the leaves produce effects very similar to those 

 of opium. It is employed with advantage in painful and spasmodic 

 affections, hysteria, rheumatism and gout; also combined with colo- 

 cynth in painters' colic and mania. It is also used externally to allay 

 the irritation of very sensible parts ; and the infusion dropped into the 

 eye dilates the pupil like Belladonna. 



ATROPA. 



Calyx 5-parted, permanent, nearly equal. Corolla campanu- 

 late, with a very short tube ; limb with 5 shallow nearly equal 

 segments. Filaments nearly as long as the tube of the corolla ; 

 anthers cordate, 4-lobed. Stigma capitate. Berry 2-celled, 

 many-seeded, subtended by the enlarged calyx. 



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