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SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



SOLANACEJE, OR NIGHTSHADE FAMILY 



The plants are of varied form, most abundant in tropical regions 

 and the family comprises about 1500 species. The leaves are usually 

 alternate; the flowers are mostly regular, excepting in Hyoscyamus; 

 the anthers are connivent, the pollen sacs being apically or longi- 

 tudinally dehiscent; and the fruits are inferior berries or capsules. 



FIG. 242. Leaves and fruits of solanaceous drugs: A, D, Belladonna, the inferior 

 berry, cut transversely, showing numerous seeds; B, F, Stramonium, the 

 fruit being a spinose capsule; C, E, Hyoscyamus, the fruit being a Pyxis, 

 surmounted by the large calyx lobes. 



The plants are usually malodorous and furnish a number ot impor- 

 tant economic products, including potato (Solanum tuberosum), 

 tomata (S. Lycopersicum), egg-plant (S. Melongena), tobacco 

 (Nicotiana Tabacum), as well as a number of drugs to which special 

 attention will be given. 



