57 o ORDER 94. SOLANACE^E. 



3. ADPR^SSA Engelm. Cor. broader ; caps, less pointed ; sds. 2 to 4. 111. to 

 Va. and La., on Rhus, Smilax, &c. 



ORDER XCIV. SOLANACE^E. NIGHTSHADES. 



Plants herbaceous, rarely shrubby, with a colorless juice and alternate leaves. 

 Flowers mostly regular, often extra-axillary, 5-parted, on bractless pedicels. Cor- 

 olla valvato or plicate in the bud and often convolute. Calyx persistent. Stamens 

 5, adherent to the corolla tube, alternate with its lobes ; anthers 2-celled. Fruit a 

 2-celled capsule or berry. Seeds co, with a curved embryo in fleshy albumen. 



Illust. in Figs. 54, 822. 



Genera 64, species 1000 or more (1675, Dunal.), generally diffused, but most abundant in the 

 tropics. 



Properties highly important. A large portion of the genera are pervaded by a narcotic prin- 

 ciple, rendering the herbage and fruit dangerously poisonous, yet furnishing some of the most 

 active medicines, as the Henbane (Hyoscyauius), Belladonna (Atropa), Stramonium (Datura), 

 Tobacco (Nicotiana), &c. At the same time several species of Solamnn afford wholesome and 

 nutritious food, not because they are free from the narcotic principle, but because it is expelled 

 in the process of cooking or ripening in the sun. Such are the tubers of the invaluable Potato, 

 the fruit of the Tomato and Egg plant. The genus Capsicum is entirely free from narcotine, 

 and produces the well-known stimulant fruit Cayenne Pepper. 



GENERA. 



Corolla wheel-shaped, the tube very short. Anthers convergent (a). 

 Corolla bell-shaped, the broad tube including the erect anthers (b). 

 Corolla funnel-form, tube long, and the limb somewhat irregular (c). 



the limb quite regular (d). 

 a Stamens connate, opening by slits inside. Berry torous ............... LYCOPERSICUM. 1 



a Stamens connivent, opening by terminal pores. Berry round. ............. SOLANUM. 2 



a Stamens counivent, opening by slits. Berry dryish, angular ............... CAPSICUM. 8 



b Corolla bluish. Berry dry, inclosed in the enlarged calyx ............ NICANDRA. 4 



b Corolla yellowish. Berry juicy, inclosed in the enlarged calyx ......... PHTSALIS. 5 



b Corolla purplish. Berry black, sitting on the open calyx ................ ATROPA. 6 



C Stamens exserted, declining. Capsule opening by a lid ......... HYOSCTAM us. 7 



C Stamens included, unequal. Capsule opening by valves ............ PETUNIA. 8 



d Stamens exserted, growing to the summit of the tube ................. NEIBEMBERGIA. 9 



d Stamens exserted, growing to the bottom of the tube ....................... LYCIUM. 10 



d Stamens included. Calyx 5-angled. Capsule spiny or smooth .............. DATURA. 11 



Calyx terete. Stigma capitate ....................... NICOTIANA. 12 



Calyx terctish. Stigma 2-lobed. Flowers small ........ FABIANA. 13 



1. LYCOPErVSICUM, Tourn. TOMATO. (Gr. XVKO^ a wolf, 



a peach; a fanciful name.) Calyx 5 to 6 to oo-parted ; corolla rotate, 

 with a short tube and a plicatc-valvato limb ; stamens 5 to 6 to oo, ex- 

 serted ; anthers connate at apex, longitudinally dehiscent on the inner 

 face; berry fleshy, 2 to 3 to co-celled. Lvs. pinnately compound. 

 Ped. extra-axillary, oo -flowered. 



Ii. escul6nt\im Mill. Hairy; st. herbaceous, weak; Ivs. unequally pinnatifid, 

 segments cut, glaucous beneath ; cor. many-lobed ; fr. torulous, furrowed, 

 smooth. CD This plant resembles the potato in its general aspect. It grows 3 

 4f high, with jagged leaves, greenish-yellow flowers, and an unpleasant odor. 

 The fruit is large and abundant, with acute farrows, at first green, becoming 

 when ripe of a beautiful red. This plant has come into high repute, and its culti- 

 vation is almost universal, for its agreeable and wholesome fruit, which presents 

 numerous varieties of form, size and color. 



2. SOLA'NUM, L. POTATO. (Solum, the ground or soil.) Calyx 5- 

 parted, persistent; corolla rotate, subcampanulate, tube very short, 

 limb plicate, 5-cleft, lobed or angular ; anthers erect, connivent, dis- 

 tinct, opening at the top by 2 pores ; berry 2-celled, subglobous or de- 

 pressed ; seeds oo. An immense genus of herbs or shrubs, unarmed or 



