538 SOLANACE.E. Lycuptrsicum. 



1. LYCOPERSICUM, Tourn. Tomaio. 

 Flowers as in Solaiium, cxcupt tlmt tlio anth(;id (on very short lilanionts) are united 

 l)y their eonti^iimis eilges into a cone, and their eolls ojjen longitiulinally (h)\vn the 

 whole length of the inner laee, not by a hole at the apex. — Herbs ol' the warmer 

 part of America, one species widely dispersed in cultivation ; the small racemose 

 llowers on peduncles which soon become lateral or opposite a leaf : peilicels articu- 

 lated and reliexed in fruit. 



1. L. esculentum, Mill. (Tomato.) Annual, widely spreading, rank-scented, 

 Ijirsute ami ghuiduiar, at least the bmnclies : leaves interruptedly once or twice 

 j)innato ; the larger leallets cut and toothed, the interposed small ones roumler 

 and often entire: corolla yellow: berry edible. — ^olanum LycojJtrsicum, Linji. 



The coiainoii Tomaio piobably has run wild in cultivutcil iuid waste grounds in the southern 

 part of the State. Var. CEitAsuouMK (Cherry Tomato) is soeniingly native along the southern 

 borders oi' the United States as far west as Aiizona, probably reaching California. The parts of 

 the flowei-, normally five, and two in the ovary, are often increased in the cultivated plant, and 

 very connnonly two or more Howej^s are blended into one. 



2. SOLANUM, Tourn. Nioutsuade. Potato. 



Calyx and rotate corolla 5-parted or cleft (or sometimes 4-10-parted or lobrd); 



the lobes of the latter valvate in the bud, with nuirgins usually turned inwards 



more or less, or the sinuses plaited. P'ilaraents short: anthers distinct,. although 



often conniving ; the cells with a hole or chink at the apex, in many species also 



opening lengthwise. Style elongated : stigma mostly entire. . Ovary with 2 cells, 



or rarely more, becoming a berry. Seeds many. Hat. — Herbs, or sometimes shrubl)y 



plants, of various aspect and foliage. 



One of the largest genera known, chiefly indigenous to warm climates, a moderate niunbcr in 

 temperate regions, but cxcecilingly few in Ihe raiitic United States. S. timikkosiim is the com- 

 nion I'otato. S. Jlici.oNiJKNA, the Aubergine or Kgg-plant. S. hkieuodoxum, Dunal, and 

 S. kostuatitm, Dunal, peculiar species extending from Mexico well into the United States east 

 of the Rocky Mountains (and remarkable for prickliness, for somewhat iriegular coiolla, one 

 anther mucli larger and longer than the rest, and the beriy comjdetely and closely invested by 

 the prickly calyx), might be exj)ected to reach California by way of Arizona ; but they have not 

 been met with here. 



* Ntvtr 2>rkldi) : anthers not taperiiu; upward, disponed to dehisce from top to bottom. 



+- Corolla, {mostly white) deeply b-clej't or ^-parted, small. 



1. S. nigrum, Linn. Annual, or sometimes becoming woody at base and more 

 enduring, widely branching, green and almost glabrous : leaves more or less ovate 

 and sinuate-toothed, sometimes merely repand or nearly entire, acute or acuminate : 

 Howers in small and pedunculate lateral umbellate clusters : berries small, black 

 when ripe, or rarely reddish. (The common Black Nightshade.) 



Var. Douglasii, (Jray. Varying from almost glabrous to hoary-pid)erulent, and 

 from one to several feet higli : leaves apt to be coarsely toothed, and the Ihjwers 

 larger (sometinu's half an incii or more in diameter) : fruiting calyx erect. — S. Domj- 

 lasii, Dunal in DC. I'rodr. xiii. 4i)- 



Waste and cultivated ground.s and along streams towards the coast ; mainly or wliolly the 

 var. DoiKjlusii, which is .seemingly indigenous, sometimes very large, and "shrubby at base." 

 S. umbem/erum, var. trachi/dddon, Torr. in I'acif. H. Hep. vii. 12, from Santa iRez, is of this 

 iorm. Southward it runs into the var. noUiflorum, which inclines to have entire leaves and 

 glabrous fdaments, and the fruiting calyx retlexed. In multifarious forms this weed occurs in 

 almost every country. At least hfty of the speei.ts admitted by Dunal in De Candolle's Prodromus 

 are by other authors redui-eil to this. The lierries have the ni-ulaliou of being poisonous, hut 

 ni some parts of the world they arc safely eaten. 



