366 PLANTS OF NEW ZEALAND 



Nightshade (Atropa belladonna), possess strongly narcotic and poisonous pro- 

 perties. The last-named plant furnishes the valuable drug atropine. Solanum 

 is the only genus found in New Zealand. 



Genus Solanum. 



Herbs, shrubs or small trees. Flowers regular, blue, purple or white. 

 Calyx and corolla 4-5-lobed ; stamens 4-5. Anthers usually exserted, forming a- 

 cone in the centre of the flower. Berry round or oblong, 2-celled, many seeded. 

 (Latin name for the nightshade, found in Pliny). 3 sp. 



Solanum aviculare (The Poro-poro). 



A branched leafy shrub. Leaves 4 in. -10 inches long, oblong or lanceolate,, 

 entire, or lobed, or pinnatifid, membranous, shining. Flowers cymose,. 

 3-10 together, usually dark-purple. Anthers spreading. Berry oval; edible. 

 Both islands, Norfolk Island, Tasmania. Fl. Dec. -March. The plant is often 

 called by the settlers, the Bulli-bull (v. Acsena, p. 202). 



Solanum nigrum (The Black Nightshade). 



A common weed. Stems, 1 ft. -3 ft. high. Leaves 1 in. -4 in. long, ovate, 

 rarely lobed. Flowers in. -Jin. across, in umbels, white. Berry in. -Jin. in 

 diameter, black or red. Both islands. Fl. all summer. 



Scrophulariaceae. 



THE SNAP-DRAGON FAMILY. 



Distribution. A large and widely-distributed family. It is well repre- 

 sented in New Zealand by about 100 species. A few of the species are partially 

 parasitic ; some produce deadly poisons, and many are cultivated for the beauty 

 of their flowers. The Veronica, Fox-glove, Snap-dragon, Mullein, and Calceolaria, 

 are well-known garden plants. The powerful drug digitalin is prepared from 

 the Fox-glove. The leaves of Scrophularia nodosa, Verbascum Thapsus, and 

 Veronica officinalis have often been used medicinally. 



The corolla in this order is two-lipped, but the lips are 

 closed, not open, as in the Labiatae. The flowers of the 

 snap-dragon (Antirrhinum), monkey musk (Mimulus), and 

 Calceolaria, are typical of this order, while those of the 

 Veronica are less so. From their structure, it is obvious that 



