PENTANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 61 



75. SOLANUM. 



1. S. dulcamara, stem climbing, shrubby, zigzag, without 

 thorns ; lower leaves heart-shaped, upper ones hastate ; clusters 

 cymose, opposite the leaves or terminal, drooping ; flowers 

 purple, with two green spots at the base of each segment ; ber- 

 ries oval, scarlet. Woody Nightshade. 



Hal. Moist hedges and thickets not uncommon. Near 

 the mouth of the Whiteadder ; turnpike at Haggerston, 

 and beyond Lowlin, Thomp. Allerton Milldean, &c. 

 June, July. If. 



The berries are tempting to children and poisonous, though 

 not so powerful as those of Atropa. A decoction of the 

 leaves and twigs is one of the most effectual remedies for 

 leprosy. 



76. ERYTHEMA. 



1 . E. centaurium, stem nearly simple ; leaves ovate-lanceolate ; 

 dowers rose-coloured, nearly sessile, in a forked corymbose pa- 

 nicle ; calyx half the length of the tube, its segments partly 

 combined by a membrane. Common Centaury. 



Hal. Dry pastures not uncommon. Sea-banks from Dodd's 

 Well to Lamberton Shields ; Newmill banks, Thomp. 

 July, Aug. 



Once celebrated for its medicinal virtues, and thus, through 

 JOANNES POSTIUS, it speaketh 



' Flos mihi suave rubet, sed inest quoque succus amarus, 

 Qui juvat obscssum bile, aperitque jecur." 



A distich which, with not inferior elegance, GERARDE 

 thus englishes 



" My floure is sweet in smell, bitter ray iuyce in taste, 

 Which purge choler, and helps liver, that else would waste." 



GERARDE tells us somewhere he was " no graduate, but 

 a countrey scholler," and we acquit the honest man of 

 leasing ! 



2. E. Uttoralis, stem simple or much branched, 2 or 3 inches 

 high ; leaves linear- obovate, obscurely three-ribbed ; flowers 



