214 A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS 



13^-3 ft. high, the lance-oval, almost unangled and tooth- 

 less, stalked leaves, 1^-2^ in. long, and more or less hairy. 

 Flowers few or often solitary, not in clusters, about i in. 

 long or a little less, yellow, with purple spots. Fruit a red- 

 dish berry, surrounded by a swollen, angled husk. In rich 

 soil. Ontario to Florida, and westward. August. Fig. 652. Re- 

 lated species are P. heterophylla, with a yellow berry, hairy 

 husk, and sticky foliage, which grows in similar situations ; 

 and the Strawberry Tomato, P. peruviana, with long pointed, 

 hairy, but not sticky, leaves, sometimes escapes from cultiva- 

 tion. 



653. Horse-nettle, Solanum carolinense. An erect, hairy, 

 branched herb, 13^-3 ft. high, the stems covered with weak 

 yellow prickles, a few of which are found also on the prin- 

 cipal veins of the leaves. Leaves more or less deeply cut or 

 lobed, stalked, 2-6 in. long. Flowers in small, loose, appar- 

 ently terminal clusters, yellow, about ^4 iri- wide. Berries 

 orange-yellow, about ^ in. in* diameter. In fields and waste 

 places, mostly as a weed. Ontario to Florida, and westward. 

 May-September. Fig. 653. 



654. Black Nightshade. Solanum nigrum. A variable, erect 

 weed, lYi-'^Yi ft. high, always branched, and without 

 prickles. Leaves without teeth, or angles, or occasionally 

 somewhat angled, oval, stalked, 1-3 in. long. Flowers white, 

 in few-flowered clusters from among the leaves. The pointed 

 lobes of the corolla recurved. Berry smooth, about Yi in. in 

 diameter, black when ripe. In waste places. Nova Scotia to 

 Florida, and westward. July-October. Fig. 654. See also No. 

 203. 



655. MULLEIN. VERBASCUM. 



Mostly biennial erect herbs, our species 1Y2-7 ft. Leaves 

 alternate, toothed or merely wavy-margined. Flowers in long 

 erect, terminal spikes or racemes. Corolla tube not very ob- 

 vious, its lobes spreading and rounded. Fruit a smooth dry 

 pod. (Scrophulariaccac.) See No. 781 for description of this 

 family. Our two species are : 



