578 ORDER 94. SOLAN ACE^E. 



8 S. Carplinense L. HORSE NETTLE. St. and petioles aculeate; Ivs. oblong- 

 ovate, petiolate, strigous, angidar-lobate, acute, midvein beneath witli a few spines ; 

 roc. naked, loose, supra-axillary; berries globou's. U Roadsides, &c., N. Y. to 

 111. and G-a. A rough weed, 1 2f high, armed with straw-colored, scattered 

 prickles. Leaves 4 6' by 2 3', usually in unequal pairs, with a few large, re- 

 pan d lobes or teeth. Flowers white, lateral and terminal. Corolla white, 12 

 15" diam. Berries yellow. Jn. 



9 S. Virginianum L. St. erect, prickly : Ivs. long-petiokd, deeply pinnatifid, lobes 

 angular-sinuate, acute or obtuse, pubescent ; petiole and midvein prickly, margins 

 ciliate ; roc. leafy, prickly. Ya. to Car. (Pursh.), Ga. (Feay, Pond.) Plant much 

 branched, 18' to 3f high, bright green, roughish with minute tomentum. Sts. 

 slightly angular. Lvs. 7 to 9-lobed. Cor. 15" broad, pale violet Anth. 4", 

 linear. Prickles straight, 5" and less, whitish. Jl. 



10 S. mammosum L. APPLE OP SODOM. St. herbaceous, villous, with scat- 

 tered spines ; Ivs. roundish-ovate, subcordate, lobed, both sides aculeate and very 

 villous ; berries inversely pear-shaped (mammosa.) (D Waste places, roadsides, 

 Car. (Pursh), Ga., Ala. (Montgomery), to La. A woolly, spiny weed, 1 to 3f high. 

 Lvs. about as broad as long, 3 to 7 -lobed, paler beneath, armed on the veins with 

 straight spines 3 to 8" long. Cor. violet colored, 5-parted, 12 to 15" diam., soft 

 villous outside. Fr. yellow, at first globular. May, Jn. (S. pumilum Dun., same 

 as S. hirsutum Nutt., is probably a starved form of this species.) 



11 S. esculentum DunaL EGG PLANT. St. prickly ; Ivs. ovate, subsinu- 

 ate, downy, prickly ; fls. 6 to 9-parted. An herbaceous, branching plant, 

 about 2f high. The fruit, with which it is heavily laden, consists of egg-shaped 

 berries, from the size of an egg to that of an ordinary water melon, smooth, and 

 of a glossy purple. It is considered wholesome and delicious. Like the tomato. 

 it is cultivated from the seed sown early in warm, dry. and mellow soil, f 



(3. Fr. smaller, white. Cultivated for the curiosity of the fruit, which when 

 ripe can scarcely be distinguished by its appearance from a hen's egg. 



3. CAP'SICUM, Toum. PEPPER. (Gr. tfaVro), to bite.) Calyx 

 erect, 5-cleft, persistent; cor. rotate, tube very short, limb plaited, 5- 

 lobed ; anthers connivent ; fruit capsular, dry, inflated, 2 to 3-celled ; 

 seeds flat, very acrid. A large genus of herbaceous or shrubby plants, 

 pervaded by a heating, acrid principle. Lvs. often in pairs. Ped. axil- 

 lary, solitary. 



C. anmmm L. RED PEPPER. CAYENNE PEPPER. St. herbaceous, angular, 

 branching above : Ivs. ovate, acuminate, entire, petiolate, glabrous ; ped. smooth ; 

 cal. angular, with short, acute lobes ; cor. lobes spreading, longer than the stam- 

 ens ; berry oblong or subglobous, red. (T) India. Cultivated for its fruit, whose 

 stimulant properties are well known. There are in gardens several varieties in 

 respect to the fruit. 



4. NICAN'DRA, Adans. APPLE OF PERU. (In honor of Nicander, 

 a Greek physician, B. c. 50.) Calyx 5-cleft, 5-angled, the angles com- 

 pressed, sepals sagittate ; corolla campanulate ; stamens 5, incurved ; 

 berry 3 to 5-celled, enveloped in the persistent calyx. Peruvian 

 herbs. 



N. physaloldes Adans. St. herbaceous; Ivs. glabrous, ample, ovate-oblong, 

 sinuate, angular ; fls. solitary, axillary, on short peduncles ; caL closed, with the 

 angles very acute. Cultivated in gardens, whence it has strayed into the neigh- 

 boring fields. It is a large, coarse herb, 2 to 5f high, very branching. Lvs. 4 to 

 7' long, 2 to 4' wide, decurreut. Cor. slightly lobed, white, with blue spots in 

 the center. Jl. Sept. Peru. 



5. PHYS'ALIS, L. GROUND CHERRY. (Gr, (t>vaaM$, a bladder; 

 the inflated calyx inclosing the fruit.) Calyx 5-cleft, persistent, at length 

 ventricous ; corolla campanulate-rotate, tube very short, limb obscurely 



