SOLANACEAE 337 



inhabiting- Bermuda. It is also recorded as a weed by Lefroy, who regarded 

 it as a native plant, and mentioned by Jones, but s-ubsequent collectors have 

 failed to find it wild. It was planted at the Agricultural Station some years 

 ago, and was seen there in 1914 



Solanum tuberosum L., Potato, South American, is one of the very im- 

 portant crop'< of Bermuda^ and has been cultivated since the early days of 

 the colony. 



Solanum Melongena L., Ego-plant, Asiatic, cultivated for its large edible 

 fruit, is a perennial, tomentose and prickly species with purplish flowers nearly 

 2' wide, the globose to oval fruit sometimes a foot in length. [S. ovigerum 

 Dunal.] 



Solanum Rantonnetii Carr., Blue Potato-bush, South American, grown 

 for ornament in gardens, is a glabrous shrub up to 6° high, with slender- 

 petioled thin entire ovate to elliptic leaves about 3" long, few-flowered, axil- 

 lary clusters of slender-pedicelled, dark blue-purple flowers, the corolla nearly 

 1' broad, the red, drooping berries j'-f in diameter. 



Solanum Seaforthianum Andr., Seaforth's Potato-vine, of tropical 

 America, grown on walls or trellises for ornament, is a long, somewhat woody, 

 nearly or quite glabrous vine, with thin leaves, either pinnately parted or 

 entire, 6' long or less, their segments ovate or lanceolate, .acute or acuminate; 

 the purple or lilac flowers are 8"-12" broad, borne in peduncled axillary com- 

 pound cymes, on slender pedicels, followed by globose yellowish or reddish 

 berries about 4" in diameter. 



Solanum jasminoides Paxton, Jasmine Potato-vine, South American, 

 is similar to S. Seaforthianum, but sometimes puberulent, and with nearly 

 white flowers in short clusters, is occasionally grown for ornament. Its upper 

 leaves are usually lanceolate and entire. 



Solanum Wendlandii Hook, f., Wendland's Potato-vine, Costa Rican, 

 also an ornamental vine, grown on trellises and porches, is stouter than S. 

 Seaforthianum, with somewhat prickly branches, its leaves larger the lower 

 ones, at least, pinnately parted; the lilac-blue flowers are about 2' broad, usu- 

 ally in large clusters. 



Solanum robtistum Wendl., Cockroach Poison, Brazilian, seen at Orange 

 Vialley in 1914, is a densely velvety shrub about 6° high, the branches and 

 leaves armed with slender, flattened prickles A' long or less, the ovate-elliptic, 

 acute coarsely few-lobed leaves S'^IO' long, on margined petioles decurrent on 

 the twigs; the white flowers are about 8" broad, in short racemes, the globose 

 pubescent berries about 4" in diameter. 



4. LYCOPERSICON Mill. 



Annual, or rarely perennial, coarse herbs, with 1-2-pinnately divided 

 leaves, and lateral irregular raceme-like cymes of small yellowish flowers op- 

 posite the leaves. Calyx 5-parted, or rarely 6-parted, the segments linear or 

 lanceolate. Corolla rotate, the tube very short, the limb 5-cleft or rarely 6- 

 cleft, plicate. Stamens 5 (rarely 6), inserted on the throat of the corolla; 

 filaments short ; anthers elongated, connate or connivent, introrsely longi- 

 tudinally dehiscent. Ovary 2-3-celled; style simple; stigma small, capitate. 

 Berry in the wild plants globose or pyriform, much modified in cultivation, 

 the calyx persistent at its base. [Greek, wolf-peach.] About 4 species, 

 natives of South America, the following typical. 



23 



