LUTHER BURBANK 



inferior in flavor. It is, however, more nearly free 

 from poisonous qualities, notwithstanding its vile 

 taste. 



The differences between the plants themselves 

 are marked, the Solanum guinense being, as al- 

 ready noted, a rather heavy shrub, while Solanum 

 nigrum, though varying considerably, is usually a 

 low spreading and slender plant. It may be said, 

 however, that both of these species, like most 

 other members of the family, show a strong pro- 

 pensity to vary. The black nightshade in particu- 

 lar takes a great variety of forms according to 

 soil and other conditions; each locality having its 

 own variety differing in minor respects from 

 plants of other regions. 



I have gone somewhat into detail in this mat- 

 ter, because I wished to establish clearly the stand- 

 ing of the Solanum guinense that was used in my 

 hybridizing experiments, and which thus became 

 one of the parents of the Sunberry; and in par- 

 ticular I wished to make clear that this is a species 

 differing considerably from the better known black 

 nightshade, Solanum nigrum, with which it has 

 been confounded. 



The other parent of the Sunberry, already 

 named as Solanum villosum, is a plant differing 

 conspicuously from either of those just described. 

 It is low, and tends to a spreading growth a few 



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