14:0 CLASS PENTANDRIA. 



injure tlie sickles of the reapers when it grows in the field 

 with the grain. The name, Lithospermuni, is from the Greek 

 litlios^ a stone, and sperma^ a seed, in allusion to the hardness 

 of the seed. The Borcujo is an exotic with a wheel-shaped 

 corolla of a beautiful blue color, having its throat closed with 

 ^\Q small protuberances ; stamens attached to the tube of the 

 corolla. By taking oif the corolla carefully, may be seen the 

 little scales which choke up the throat, and the manner iu 

 which the five stamens adhere to the corolla. 



185. We next meet with a family of plants named by Lin- 

 naeus Luridce^ from their pale or lurid color. Jussieu called 

 them the Solanece^ considering the potato, Solcmum^ the type of 

 the order. The general characters of these plants are a mono- 

 petalous corolla, of a lurid or pale appearance ; five stamens 

 attached to the base of the corolla, and alternating with its 

 divisions; leaves alternate. The common potato (Solanum 

 ticberosum) has conspicuous flow^ers ; the anthers are oblong, 

 thick, partly united at the top, and open at the summit by two 

 pores. The potato was not known in Europe until after the dis- 

 covery of America. In the year 1597 Sir Walter Raleigh, on 

 his return from this country, distributed a few potatoes in Ire- 

 land, where they became numerous, and the cultivation of them 

 soon extended into England. The tubers of the potato are 

 now considered as 'subterranean stems, the true roots, by mean? 

 of which the plant receives nourishment, being fibrous. The 

 green balls upon the stalks of this plant are the pericarps, 

 and contain the seed. The little knobs called eyes, which 

 appear upon the tubers of the potato, are germs or buds, each 

 of which is capable of producing a plant.* The Tomato and 

 the Egg-plant belong to the genus Solcmum. In the same 

 natural order is the Datuka stramonium^ a large, ill-look- 

 ing, nauseous-scented weed; with a funnel-form, j^laited co- 

 rolla, either white or purple, with broad, dark-green leaves ; 

 and an ovate, thorny pericarp, often called Thorn-apple. It 

 continues to blossom during the summer; is found by the 

 sides of roads, around old buildings, and in waste grounds. 

 Yet even this disagreeable plant has its uses; on account 

 of its narcotic, and other active properties, it is highly valu- 

 able in medicine. In the group of plants we are now consid- 

 ering is the tobacco (I^icotiana tctbacum)^ a native of America, 

 imported mto Europe about the middle of the 16th century. 

 It was presented to Catherine de Medicis, Queen of France, as 



* This is mort) properly a COT! a'7n<a<<ow of the plant, than a reproduction ;—\t is found that the 

 vegetable thus continued appears, in process of time, to degenerate, and it is necessary to renew tiie 

 race by reproducing it from seed. 



185. Lnridje or Solanca — Describe the potato— What other plants are in the genua Solanum ?— 

 Tatura— Tobacco. 



