SOLANACE^E. (nICHTSII AIH: FAMILY.) 373 



Ordkr 74. SOLANACEyK. (Xuihtshadk Family.) 



Herbs (or rarely shrubs), wilh colorless Juice and alternate leaves, regu- 

 lar b-merous and b-androus Jloicers, on braclless pedicels; the corolla im- 

 bricate or valvule in the bud, and mosllf/ plaited : the fruit a 2-celled {rarely 

 S-5-celled) many-seeded capsule or berry. — Seeds campylotropous or 

 amphitropous. Embryo mostly slender and curved in fleshy albumen. 

 Calyx usually persistent. Stamens mostly e(iual, inserted on the corolla. 

 Style and stigma sinji;le. I'lacentae in the axis, often projecting far into 

 the cells. (Foliage rank-scented, and with the fruits mostly narcotic, 

 often very i)oisonous, while some are edible.) — A large family in the 

 tropics, but very few indigenous in our district. It shades off into Scro- 

 phulariacea?, from which the plaited regular corolla and 5 equal stamens 

 generally distinguish it. 



♦ Corolla wlicel-sliaped, 5-parted or 5-lobecl; the lobes valvatc and their margins usually 

 turned inward in the bud. Anthers connivent. Fruit a berry. 



1. SolHiium. Anthers opening by pores or chinks at the tip. 



* * Corolla various, not wheel-shaped, nor valvate in the bud. Anthers separate. 



•*- Fruit a berry, closely invested by an herbaceous (not angled) calyx. 



2. Cliatnaesaraclia. Corolla plicate, 5-angulate. Pedicels solitary, recurved in fruit. 

 •<- t- Fruit a berry, enclosed in the bladdery-inflated calyx. Corolla widely expanding. 



3. Physalis. Calyx 5-cleft. Corolla 5-lobed or nearly entire. Berry juicy, 2-celIed. 



4. Nicandra. Calyx 5-parted. Corolla nearly entire. Berry dry, 3 - 5-celled. 



•*-■)-■•- Fruit a berry with the unaltered calyx persistent at its base. 



5. Lycium. Corolla funnel-form or tubular, not plaited. Berry small, 2-celled, 



•t- •<- -t- -^ Fruit a capsule. 



6. Hyoscyamiis. Calyx urn-shaped, enclosing the smooth 2-celled capsule, which opens 



by the to]) falling off as a lid. Corolla and stamens somewhat irregular. 



7. Datura. Calyx prismatic, .5-toothed. Capsule prickly, naked, more or less 4-celled, 



4-valved. Corolla funnel-form. 



8. Nicotiana. Calyx tubular-bell-shaped, 5-cleft. Capsule enclosed in the calyx, 2-celled. 



1. SOLAN UM, Tourn. Xi(;htsh.\de. 



Calyx and wlieel-shaped corolla 5-partetl or o-cleft (rarely 4- lO-parted), the 

 latter plaited in tlie hud, and valvate or induplicatc. Stamens exserted ; fila- 

 ments very short; anthers converging around the style, opening at the tip 

 by two pores or chinks. Berry usually 2-celled. — Herbs, or slirubs in warm 

 climates, the larger leaves often accompanied by a smaller lateral (rameal) 

 one ; the peduncles al.so mostly lateral and extra-axillary. — A vast genus, 

 chiefly in warmer regions, including the Pot.\to (S. tibkk6si:m) and the 

 Egg-plaxt (S. MELON(;i:\A) ; while tlie Tomato (Lycopkksicl'.m escu- 

 lentum) is closely related. (Name of unknown (b'rivatiou.) 



* Not prickly ; anthers blunt ; Jlowers and glol)ose naked buries svi-dl. 



-t- Perennial, climbing or tirining. 



S. Di:lcam.\ra, T.. (Bitterswekt.) More or less pubescent; leaves 

 ovate-heart-shaped, the upper halljerd-shaped, or witli two ear-like lobes or 

 leaflets at base; flowers (])ur])le or blue) in small cymes; berries oval, red. — 

 Moist banks and around (Iwellings. June -Sept. (Nat. from Eu.) 



