THE HIGHER DICOTYLEDONS. 363 



good deal on the same plant, some of the leaves being lobed 

 at the base, or even divided into three leaflets. 



The flowers (June, July) have much the same arrangement 

 and structure as those of Potato. Each flower has a slender 

 drooping stalk ; a short calyx -tube with five broad blunt 

 lobes ; a short corolla-tube with five horizontally- spreading 

 lobes (each lobe purple, with two green spots at the base) ; 

 stamens and pistil as in Potato. How does the fruit (ripe in 

 September) agree with, and differ from, that of Potato ? 



Note the way in which the Bittersweet climbs. Does it 

 twine its stems round the supporting plants, or does it merely 

 insinuate its branches among them ? Is the stem twisted ? 

 If twining occurs, is it always right-handed or left-handed, 

 or in either direction indifferently ? The Bittersweet is a 

 feeble climber, as a rule. It is worth while to plant cuttings 

 or grow seedlings and make experiments like those given for 

 Scarlet Runner (Art. 230). Several foreign shrubby Solanums 

 are often grown, some being erect plants, while others e.g. 

 8. jasminoides climb by twisting their petioles around the 

 support ; other plants with " petiole-tendrils " are Clematis 

 and Garden Nasturtium (Tropaeolum) . 



364. The Potato Family (Solanaceae) is very poorly 

 represented in Britain and in Europe generally ; of the 72 

 genera in the family exactly half are confined to Central and 

 South America the native home of the Potato itself. The 

 family includes herbs and shrubs and a few small trees. The 

 leaves are usually alternate, but in some cases they are 

 opposite in the flowering upper part of the plant. The 

 flowers are regular in most cases, with a 5 -lobed persistent 

 calyx, a 5-lobed corolla, 5 stamens, and a 2-chambered ovary ; 

 the carpels are obliquely placed, the posterior one to the right, 

 the anterior one to the left (Fig. 149). There are numerous 

 ovules, and the fruit is a berry or a capsule, with endospermic 

 seeds. 



365. Flower Mechanisms in Solanaceae. The flowers 

 of all the Solanaceae are conspicuous and insect-pollinated, 

 chiefly by long-tongued flies and bees ; Nicotiana (Tobacco 

 Plant) is a beautiful example of a moth-pollinated flower. 

 The flowers of Solatium show much the same mechanism as 



