1678 



SOLANUM 



are white, purple or yellow. The species are herbs in 

 temperate climates, but in warm countries many of 

 them are shrubby and some are small trees. Many of 

 them are climbers. It is impracticable to distribute the 

 few cultivated species into the various botanical groups 

 of a great genus, and the following species are there- 

 fore assembled on a purely horticultural plan. 



2337. Pepino or Melon Shrub Solanum muricatum (X 



avieulare, 13. 

 azureum, 21. 

 boreale, 1. 

 Capsieastrum, 9. 

 coccineum, 7. , 

 depressum, 6. 

 esculentum, 6. 

 Fendleri, 1. 

 grandiflorum, 20. 

 Guatemalense, 5. 

 Hendersoni, 10. 

 Indicum, 14. 

 insanum, 6. 

 integrifolium, 7. 

 Jamesii. 3. 

 jasminoides, 20. 



A. Species bearing underground tubers: Ivs. pinnate. 

 (See Baker, Journ. Linn. Soc. 21, for account of 

 the tuberiferous Solauums.) 



1. tuberosum, Linn. POTATO. Figs. 1929, 1930; 2336. 

 Low, weak-stemmed, much-branched perennial with 

 tender, herbaceous tops, and perpetuating itself asex- 



SOLANUM 



ually by means of thickened or tuberous underground 

 stems, glabrous or pubescent-hirsute: Ivs. unequally 

 pinnate, the 5-9 oblong-ovate Ifts. interposed with much 

 smaller ones: fls. lilac or white, in long-stemmed 

 dichotomous clusters, the corolla prominently lobed: fr. 

 a small globular yellow berry, usually not produced in 

 the highly developed modern varieties. Temperate 

 Andes of Chile and adjacent regions. See Potato. There 

 is a form with yellow-blotched Ivs. (known as var. va- 

 riegatum) sometimes cult, for ornament. 



Var. boreale, Gray (S. Fendleri, Gray). Plant usu- 

 ally smaller, as also the tubers, which are about % in. 

 in diam. and send off long, creeping subterranean 

 stolons: interposed Ifts. one or two or even none: 

 corolla angled. Mts., S. Colo, to Mex. Apparently only 

 a northward extension of the species. 



2. Maglia, Schlecht. DARWIN POTATO. More slender 

 and erect than S. tuberosum and nearly or quite gla- 

 brous: Ifts. usually smaller, the interposed ones few 

 and very small: fls. smaller than those of S. tuberosum, 

 white, slender -pediceled, in loose, long-forked cymes: 

 tubers small (2 in. or less long), globose or oblong, soft 

 and watery. Coast region of Chile. B.M. 6756. Some- 

 times cult, as a curiosity. It has been thought by some 

 to be the original of the Potato, but this is now given 

 up. Darwin describes the plant in his "Naturalist's 

 Voyage." As grown by the writer, the plant has given 

 little promise in the production of tubers, for the 

 tubers are small and soft. 



3. Jamesii, Torr. Low and slender, 12-18 in. tall un- 

 der cultivation, the small angular branches glabrous or 

 soon becoming so: Ivs. oblong in general outline, the 



rachis narrow-winged, the Ifts. 5-9, with no in- 

 terposed small ones, small and lanceolate-ob- 

 long in shape : fls. small, white, the corolla 

 deeply cleft and the anthers large and promi- 

 nent: tubers few, globular, hard, 1 in. or less 

 in diameter, withstanding frost. Mts. of Colo., 

 N. Mex. and Ariz. B. M. 6766. Sometimes 

 cult, as a curiosity. The tubers do not appear 

 to be eaten. 



AA. Species grown (or collected) for the edible 

 fruits: Ivs. simple. 



4. nigrum, Linn. BLACK NIGHTSHADE. Mo- 

 RELLE of the French. Annual, 1-2 ft., branch- 

 ing, glabrous or nearly so: Ivs. simple and en- 

 tire, ovate to cuneate - ovate, pointed, long- 

 stalked: fls. white, small, in few-fld. clusters, 

 the pedicels drooping: fr. globular, black, size 

 of a pea. A widespread weedy plant. In the 

 Dakotas, according to Hansen, the plant is 

 often called "Stubbleberry," as it volunteers 

 freely in wheat stubble, and the fruit is much 

 used there for pies and preserves. Hansen finds 

 that the plants withstand considerable frost. 

 In warm countries, according to Vilmorin, the 

 leaves are sometimes eaten as spinach is, "and 

 apparently without any injurious result, al- 

 though the plant belongs to the dangerous fam- 

 ily of the Solanacese." The writer has. grown the plant 

 from French seeds, but he does not know that it is in 

 the American trade. The species is exceedingly vari- 

 able. Gray thinks that the species should include 

 "many and perhaps most of 50 and more species of 

 Dunal in the Prodromus, weeds or weedy plants, widely 

 diffused over the world, especially in the warmer por- 

 tions." 



5. muricatum, Ait. (S. GuatemaUnse, Hort.). PEPINO. 

 MELON PEAR. MELON SHRUB. Fig. 2337. Erect bushy 

 herb or subshrub, not spiny, glabrous or nearly so: Ivs. 

 long and narrow, mostly oblong-lanceolate, tapering to 

 the petiole and also to the nearly or quite obtuse point, 

 the margin wholly entire or somewhat undulate: tts. 

 rather small, bright blue, deeply 5-lobed, inclined or 

 nodding in a long-stalked forking cluster: fr. long- 

 ovoid or egg-shaped, long-stalked, yellow overlaid with 

 streaks and splashes of violet-purple, in cult, specimens 

 4-6 in. long and seedless. Trop. Amer., at temperate 

 elevations. G.F. 5:173. G.C. III. 3:309.-This plant at- 

 tracted some attention in this country about ten years 

 ago. It appears to have been introduced into the United 



