SOL 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



SOL 



589 



Solatium; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Monogy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed, 

 half five-cleft; segments erect, acute, permanent. Corolla: 

 one-petalled, wheel-shaped; tube very short; border large, 

 half five-cleft, from reflex flat, plaited. Stamina: filamenta 

 five, awl-shaped, very small ; antheree oblong;, converging, 

 subcoalescent, opening at the top by two pores. Pistil : 

 'germen roundish ; style filiform, longer than the stamina ; 

 stigma blunt. Pericarp : berry roundish, smooth, dotted at 

 the top, two-celled, with a convex fleshy receptacle on each 

 side. Seeds: very many, roundish, nestling. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Corolla: wheel-shaped. Anthers.: subcoa- 

 lescent, opening at top by a double pore. Berry: two-celled. 



The species are, 



* Unarmed. 



1. Solanum Laurifolium; Bay-leaved Nightshade. Stem 

 unarmed, arboreous; leaves petioled, ovate-oblong, tomen- 

 tose beneath ; panicle terminating, dichotomous, divaricating. 

 This tree produces black berries, the size of a large currant. 

 Native of the forests of Surinam. 



2. Solanum Verbascifoliutn ; Mullein-leaved Nightshade. 

 Stem unarmed, shrubby ; leaves ovate, tomentose, quite entire ; 

 corymbs bifid, terminating. Flowers produced in small um- 

 bels from the side of the stalks, standing erect; they are pretty 

 large, and white, with the petal cut into five star-pointed 

 segments. Native of America; found also in the mountain- 

 woods of Martinico, flowering in November. This may be 

 increased by cuttings, planted in a shady border during any 

 of the summer months; when rooted, take them up, plant 

 them in pots, and place the pots in the shade till they have 

 taken new root. This, and all the species from the Cape of 

 Good Hope, require an open airy glass-case, or warm green- 

 house, in winter; but in summer may be placed abroad in a 

 warm sheltered situation. 



3. Solanum Auriculatum ; Ear leaved NightsJuade, Stem 

 unarmed, shrubby; leaves ovate, acuminate, tomentose, quite 

 entire; stipules cordate; corymbs bifid, terminating. This 

 is very like the preceding species. It flowers here in April. 

 Native of the Mauritius, Madagascar, and Bourbon. 



4. Solanum Pubescens; Pubescent Nightshade. Stem un- 

 armed, tomeotose, shrubby ; leaves ovate, decreasing at the 

 base, quite entire, pubescent ; racemes subumbelled ; flower 

 large, purple-coloured. Native of the East Indies. 



5. Solanum Bombense ; Tierra Bomba Nightshade. Stem 

 unarmed; frutescent ; leaves oval, attenuated to both ends, 

 quite entire; racemes cymed. Native of Tierra Bomba, near 

 Carthagena in America. 



6. Solanum Pseudo-Capsicum; Shrubby Nightshade, or 

 Winter Cherry. Stem unarmed, shrubby ; leaves lanceolate, 

 repand ; umbels lateral, sessile. Stem bushy, three feet high ; 

 leaves stalked, evergreen, about two inches long. The flowers 

 are white; and are succeeded by berries as large as small cher- 

 ries, which ripen in winter. There are two varieties ; one with 

 red, and the other with a yellowish fruit. Sow the seeds in a 

 pot of rich earth in the spring, place it in a moderate hot-bed, 

 and water the earth frequently. When the plants come up, 

 plant them in another moderate hot-bed, covered with rich 

 earth about six inches thick, at six inches' distance every 

 way: arch the bed over with hoops, cover it occasionally with 



ts, to shade the young plants from sun and cold, and water 

 im frequently. When they have acquired strength, and 

 the season becomes favourable, inure them by degrees to the 

 open air, and expose them fully to it in June, when they 

 should be taken up with a ball of earth to the root of each 



tnt, and placed separately in pots filled with rich earth, in 

 ihady situation, and frequently watered until they have 



taken new root; after which, remove them to a more open 

 exposure among other exotic plants, giving them plenty of 

 water in dry weather. In the winter, remove them into the 

 green-house, placing them in the coldest part, where they 

 may have as much free air as possible in mild weather, for 

 they require only to be sheltered from severe frost, and are 

 so hardy as frequently to endure the cold of our ordinary 

 winters abroad. Shift the plants annually about the end of 

 April; paring the roots round, cutting off all the mouldy fibres 

 next the pot, and filling up the pots with fresh rich earth, to 

 strengthen the flowers, and produce plenty of fruit. 



7. Solanum Microcarpum ; Small-fruited Nightshade. 

 Stem unarmed, shrubby; leaves ovate-lanceolate; umbels 

 lateral, peduncled. Native of Egypt. 



8. Solanum Terminale; End-flowering Nightshade. Un- 

 armed, frntescent: leaves lanceolate-ovate, mostly quite entire, 

 hairy; umbels terminating. Native of Arabia Felix. 



9. Solanum Paucirlorum ; Few-flmvered Nightshade. 

 Leaves ovate, quite entire; branches and calices ten-toothed, 

 tomentose; peduncles axillary, in pairs, one-flowered. Native 

 of the island of Martinique. 



10. Solanum Diphyllum; Two-leaved Nightshade. Stem 

 unarmed, shrubby; leaves in pairs, one smaller than the 

 other; flowers in cymes. This is a stinking evergreen, two 

 or three feet high ; corolla white. It flowers the whole sum- 

 mer. Native of the West Indies. 



11. Solanum Fugax; Fugacious Nightshade. Stem un- 

 armed, shrubby, dichotomous, divaricating; leaves lanceolate, 

 quite entire, smooth ; peduncles solitary, axillary, one-flow- 

 ered; calix ten-toothed. Native of the Caraccas. 



12. Solanum Geminatum ; Two-flowered Nightshade. 

 Leaves ovate, quite entire ; calices ten-toothed, smooth ; 

 peduncles axillary, in pairs, one-flowered ; stem scandent. 

 This is an unarmed shrub. Found at Cayenne. 



13. Solanum Retro fractu m ; Broken Nightshade. Leaves 

 ovate, smooth ; branches axillary, retrofractt-d ; umbels axil- 

 lary and terminating, sessile ; calices truncate. Native of 

 South America. 



14. Solanum Stellatum; Starry Nightshade. Stem unarmed, 

 shrubby, scandent, flexuose; leaves ovate, smooth, acuminate; 

 peduncles subgeminate, one-flowered, axillary ; calices une- 

 qually toothed ; flower elegant, but scentless ; corolla large, 

 spreading very much, thin, rounded, blue, with a five-rayed 

 star; berry globular, the size of a pea. Native place un- 

 certain. 



15. Solanum Dulcamara; Woody Nightshade, or Bitter- 

 Sweet. Stem unarmed, frutescent, flexuose; upper leaves 

 hastate; racemes cymed, drooping; fruit elliptical. Root 

 perennial, woody, smelling like the Potato; berries scarlet, 

 very juicy, bitter, and poisonous. The roots and stalks, upon 

 being chewed, first cause a sensation of bitterness, which is 

 soon followed by a considerable degree of sweetness, whence 

 the plant obtained the name of Dulcamara or Bitter-Sweet. 

 The berries excite vomiting and purging. Floyer says, that 

 thirty of them killed a dog in less than three hours, and were 

 found undigested in his stomach. As they are very common 

 in hedges, and may be mistaken by children for red currants, 

 this circumstance is well worthy of notice. Whenever they 

 have unfortunately been eaten, it is adviseable to pour down 

 as much warm water as possible, to dilute and weaken the 

 poison, and to provoke vomiting, until medical assistance can 

 be obtained. The old botanists recommended this plant as a 

 medicine in many diseases. Ray informs us, that the inha- 

 bitants of Westphalia make use of a decoction of the whole 

 plant, as their common drink, with success against the scurvy. 

 Boerhaave says, it is a medicine far superior to China-root 



