216 



SOLANACE^E. 



(Ipomcea Jalapa), possesses similar properties, but of a much less active 

 character. It has been used to a limited extent only, for it is much less 

 efficient than jalap and many other common purgatives. 



SOLANACE/E. 



Character of the Order. Herbs, rarely shrubs, with colorless juice and 

 alternate leaves. Flowers generally regular, 5-merous, on pedicels without 

 bracts. Calyx commonly persistent. Corolla monopetalous, valvate or con- 

 volute in the bud, often plaited. Stamens inserted in the tube of the 

 corolla, equal in number to, and alternate with its lobes. Ovary free, 

 2-celled ; style and stigma single. Fruit a berry or pod. 



A large order of chiefly tropical plants. In general they contain 



narcotic principles ; a few of 

 them, as the potato, tomato, 

 and egg-plant, afford impor- 

 tant articles of food. Very 

 few of the strictly North 

 American species deserve 

 mention ; those described be- 

 low, though mostly intro- 

 duced, are so widely diffused, 

 and most of them so impor- 

 tant, that they may well be 

 considered, for our purposes, 

 as indigenous. 



SOLANUM. NIGHTSHADE. 



Solanum Dulcamara 



Linne. Bittersweet. 



Description. Calyx per- 

 sistent, 5-lobed, the lobes ob- 

 tuse, purple. Corolla ro- 

 tate, 5-lobed, the lobes acute, 

 reflexed, purple, with two 

 green spots at the base ; the 

 anthers yellow. Berry small, 



FIG. 146. Solanum Dulcamara. 



tube very short. Stamens 5, short, black 

 ovoid or globular, red, several-seeded. 



A somewhat shrubby perennial. Stems flexuous, trailing or climbing, 

 often several feet in length. Leaves petiolate, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 

 2 to 3 inches long, the lower entire, the upper often with a small lobe or 

 segment on each side, glabrous or downy. Flowers rather small, in loose 

 cymes on lateral peduncles shorter than the leaves, appearing in midsum- 

 mer ; they have a heavy narcotic odor. 



