580 ORDER 94. SOLANACE^E. 



berry globous, 2-celled, sitting on the enlarged calyx. Herbs of lurid 



colors. Lvs. often twin. 



A. Belladonna L. St. trichotomous ; Ivs. ovate, entire; berries black. 

 This poisonous herb is far less repulsive in its appearance than most others of its 

 order. The lurid, pale purple of the flower, indeed, looks suspicious, but not its 

 smell nor the berries, which are larger than cherries, round, green, at length of 

 a fine, glossy black, full of a purple juice. Stem 5f high, branching below, and 

 with the large leaves, inclines more or less to a purplish hue. \ Eur. 



7. HYOSCY'AMUS, Tourn. HENBANE. (Gr. vq, iog, a pig, and 

 Kvaf.iog, bean ; the fruit is said to be not poisonous to swine.) Calyx 

 tubular, 5-cleft ; corolla infundibuliform, irregular ; one of the 5 obtuse 

 lobes larger ; stamens 5, declinate ; stigma capitate ; capsule ovoid, 2- 

 celled, opening with a lid near the summit. Coarse, weed-like herbs, 

 native in Eastern countries. 



H. niger L. Branching, erect, very leafy * Ivs. sinuate, clasping ; fls. sessile. 

 A tall, well known, foetid weed, growing about the rubbish of old houses, road- 

 sides, &G. The whole plant is hairy, viscid, and of a sea-green hue, emitting a 

 foetid odor. Stem 2f high, round. Leaves large, oblong, cut into acute, sinuate 

 lobes. Flowers in terminal, one-sided spikes ; the corolla straw-color, finely reti- 

 culated with dark purple veins. The whole plant is reputed poisonous, but has 

 long been regarded as an excellent medicine in nervous diseases, coughs, convul- 

 sions, &c. Jl. Eur. 



8. PETITNIA, Juss. (The Brazilian name is petun, latinized Petu- 

 nia.) Calyx tubular, 10-veined, 5-parted, segments oblong-spatulate ; 

 corolla funnel or salver-form, tube cylindric, limb spreading, usually 5- 

 lobed ; stamens 5, inserted in the middle of the tube, unequal, included, 

 anthers cordate ; stigma capitate ; capsule 2-celled ; seeds minute. 

 South American herbs. Lvs. alternate, entire, the floral twin. Ped. 1- 

 flowei'ed. 



1 P. Nyctaginifldra Juss. Diffuse, glandular-villous ; st. erect, branched; 

 Ivs. solitary, ovate-oblong, obtusish, subsessile, floral sessile, cordate-ovate, suboppo- 

 site; ped. axillary, solitary, exceeding the leaves; cor. tube slightly enlarged 

 above, thrice longer than the calyx, with a wide-spreading limb. 1 Gardens. 

 Fls. large, white, numerous. 



2 P. violacea Lindl. Glandular hairy ; st. prostrate at base, then erect, spar- 

 ingly branched ; Ivs. ovate, short-petiolate, acute, the upper ovate-lanceolate ; ped. 

 solitary, equaling the leaves ; cor. tube inflated, limb cleft into rounded, acute 

 lobes. It Sts. numerous, G to 16' long. Cor. large, violet-purple. Both species 

 are great favorites in gardens, and by mixture sport into endless varieties, among 

 which is 



ft. ATKINSIANA. Lvs. ovate, whitish ; cal. segm. ligulate ; cor. tube twice or 

 more longer tlan the calyx. 



9. NIEREMBER'GIA, Ruiz et Pav. (Named for Nuremberg, n.gpan- 

 ish Jesuit.) Calyx persistent, tubular or subcampanulate, 10-veined, 

 curved, 5-cleft ; corolla funnel-form, tube long and slender, limb ample, 

 spreading, plicate, slightly unequal ; stamens 5, inserted in the throat, 

 unequal, connivent; anthers hid beneath the stigma; capsule 2-celled, 

 seeds many, minute, 3-angled. South American, chiefly herbs, creep- 

 ing, with elegant, solitary, extra-axillary fls. 



1 N. aristata Sweet. Puberulent, pale^green; sts. filiform, very branching: Ivs. 

 narrowly linear, acute; fls. pedunculate, opposite the leaves, eolitary; cal. cam- 

 panulate, seg. linear-subulate, acute, twice shorter than the slender, glandular cor. 

 tube. St. 3 to 9' long. Lvs. 1 to 2' long, 1" wide. Cor. large, white, tinged 

 with purple, 3 striae on each lobe. 



