456 



ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE NATURAL ORDERS. 



884. Ord. SolaiiaCCiC (Nightshade Family) differs from Serophu- 

 lariaceae chiefly in the regular (rarely somewhat irregular) flowers, 

 with as many fertile stamens as there are lobes to the corolla, (four 

 or five), and some form of the plaited or valvate aestivation of the 

 corolla. Fruit either capsular or baccate. Embryo slender, mostly 

 curved, in fleshy albumen (Fig. G14, 615). — The fruit of Datura 

 is spuriously four-celled. — Stimulant narcotic properties pervade the 

 order, the herbage and fruits of which are mostly deleterious, often 

 violently poisonous, and furnish some of the most active medi- 

 cines ; such as the Tobacco, the Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger), the 



Belladonna (Atropa Belladonna), the Thorn-apple or Jamestown 

 Weed (Datura Stramonium), and the Bittersweet (Solanum Dulca- 

 mara). Yet the berries of some Solanums are eatable (as Toma- 

 toes, the Egg-Plant, &c), and the starchy tubers of the Potato 

 are a great staple of food. But the fruit and seeds of Capsicum 

 ( Cayenne pepper) are most pungent and stimulant. 



885. Ol'd. Gcntianacefe (Gentian Family). Herbs, with a watery 

 juice ; the leaves opposite and entire. Flowers regular, often showy. 

 Calyx of usually four or five persistent, more or less united sepals. 

 Corolla mostly convolute in aestivation ; the stamens inserted on its 

 tube. Ovary one-celled, with two parietal and many-ovuled pla- 



FIG. 1049 Flower of Tobacco (Xicotiana Tabacum). 1050 The capsule, dehiscent at the 

 apex, with the persistent calyx. 1051. Cross-section of the same. 1052. Magnified section of 

 the seed of Solanum 1053. Flower of Hyoscyamus niger. 1054 Fruit (pyxis) of the same. 

 1055. Flowers oud berries of Solanum Dulcamara. 



