244 SOLANACE.E. [Solatium. 



Hongkong, Wright. Not seen in any other collection. It i9 with much hesitation that I 

 publish a new species of so vast and confused a genus as Solatium. But 1 have endeavoured in 

 vain to match this fine plant either with any specimen in our herharia, or with any of 

 Denial's diagnoses. It appears to belong to his group of Melongenas. 



2. PHYSALIS, Linn. 



Calyx 5 -toothed or 5-lobed, inflated after flowering. Corolla broadly cam- 

 panulate or nearly rotate, 5-angled, folded in the bud. Anthers short, open- 

 ing longitudinally. Ovary 2-celled. Berry globular, enclosed in the inflated 

 calyx. — Herbs either annual or with a perennial stock. Leaves often in pairs. 

 Flowers solitary, on axillary or lateral pedicels. 



A genus rather numerous in America, one or two species extending over the warmer re- 

 gions of the Old World as well as the New. 



1. P. angulata, Linn.; Dun. in DC. Prod. xiii. part i. 448. A gla- 

 brous annual, with very spreading branches, 1 to 2 ft. high. Leaves on long 

 petioles, ovate, oblong or almost lanceolate, usually acute, with a few coarse 

 irregular teeth. Flowering calyx about \\ lines long, with 5 triangular acute 

 rather short lobes, truncate at the base. Corolla about twice as long, pale yel- 

 low, often marked with 5 purple spots. Fruiting calyx above 1 in. long, 5- 

 angled, with 5 short connivent teeth, enclosing a small globular berry. — P. 

 Linkiana, Nees, P. capsicifolia, Dun., and probably several other species enu- 

 merated in DC. Prod, xiii, pars i. p. 448, 449, etc. 



In waste places, Champion. Frequent in tropical America and Africa, and very common 

 in India. The species should also perhaps include as a pubescent variety the common 

 Indian P, minima, Linn, 



3. NICANDRA, Gsertn. 



Calyx of 5 distinct broadly- cordate sepals, becoming much enlarged and 

 inflated in fruit. Corolla campanulate, with 5 broad short lobes, folded (and 

 perhaps also slightly imbricated) in the bud. Anthers short, opening longi- 

 tudinally. Ovary 3- to 5 -celled. Fruit a berry, enclosed in the enlarged 

 calyx. 



A genus limited to a single species. 



1, N. physalodes, Gcertn. ; Dun. in DC. Prod. xiii. part i. 434 ; Bot. 

 Mag. t. 2458. An erect glabrous annual or biennial, attaining sometimes 5 

 or 6 feet. Leaves stalked, ovate, irregularly sinuate or coarsely toothed or 

 lobed, 3 or 4 in. long, or sometimes larger. Flowers pale-blue, solitary, on 

 short pedicels in the upper axils, forming a terminal leafy raceme. Sepals at 

 the time of flowering a little more than \ in. long, and herbaceous, when in 

 fruit above 1 in. long, thin and much veined, and closely connivent, forming 

 a vesicular calyx with very prominent angles. Corolla nearly 1 in. long. Berry 

 globular. 



In waste places, escaped from gardens, Hance. A S. American species, which has esta- 

 blished itself as a weed in several parts of the warmer regions of the Old World. 



4. LYCIUM, Linn. 



Calyx 5 -toothed or 5-lobed, persistent, but scarcely enlarged after flower- 

 ing, Corolla tubular or funnel-shaped, with a small or campanulate 5-lobed 



