350 SOLANACE^. (NIGHTSHADE FAMILY.) 



2. CAPSICUM, Tourn. RED-PEPPER. 



Calyx cup-shaped, 5-7-toothed. Corolla wheel-shaped, 5-7-cleft, plaited. 

 Stamens 5-7, inserted on the throat of the corolla, exserted : anthers connivent, 

 opening lengthwise. Stigma obtuse. Berry juiceless, partly 2-3-celled, many- 

 seeded. Herbs or shrubs, with acrid juice, solitary flowers, and red berries. ' 



1 - C. frutescens, L. Shrubby, smooth ; stem branching ; leaves oblong- 

 ovate, obtuse, entire, acute or rounded at the base, petioled, often by pairs ; 

 calyx obscurely toothed, long-peduncled, erect ; berry oblong, shorter than the 

 peduncle. South Florida. Stem l-2 high. Leaves 1' long. Flowers in 

 the forks of the branches. Berry 4" - 6" long. 



3. PHYSALIS, L. GROUND-CHERRY. 



Calyx 5-toothed, inflated in fruit, and enclosing the juicy berry. Corolla 

 short-bell-shaped, plaited, 5-lobed or 5-angled. Stamens 5, inserted on the tube 

 of the corolla : anthers separate, opening lengthwise. Stigma obtuse. Seeds 

 flat, kidney-shaped. Diffusely branching herbs, with alternate petioled leaves, 

 which are often by pairs, and solitary nodding flowers in their axils, or in the 

 forks of the branches. 



* Perennial: peduncles commonly longer than the petiole: corolla 8" -10" in diam- 

 eter, spotted in the throat with brown or purple. 



1. P. viscosa, L. Pubescent or hairy ; root slender, elongated ; stems 

 erect, at length diffusely branched, angled ; leaves ovate, entire or angularly 

 toothed, acute or obtuse, rounded or cordate at the base ; calyx hairy, with 

 triangular-ovate lobes ; corolla pubescent, yellow, with 5 large brown spots in 

 the throat ; style and filaments purple ; anthers yellow ; fruiting calyx oblong- 

 ovate, sharply 5-angled, concave or truncate at the base ; berry globose, viscid. 

 (P. heterophylla, Nees. P. Pennsylvanica, L.) Dry light or sandy soil, Flor- 

 ida to Mississippi, and northward. July - Oct. Stems - 2 high, sometimes 

 purple ; the pubescence often viscid, jointed, or rough. Leaves 1'- 2' long, the 

 uppermost rarely acute and unequal at the base. Corolla obscurely lobed. 

 Fruiting calyx l'-l' long. 



2. P. lanceolata, Michx. Pubescent ; leaves ovate-lanceolate or oblong, 

 obtuse, but often attenuate at the apex, entire, wavy, or coarsely and obtusely 

 toothed on the margins, acute and commonly very unequal at the base ; calyx 

 pubescent, the lobes long-acuminate from an ovate base ; corolla 5-lobed, or some- 

 what 10-lobed or toothed, yellow in the throat ; fruiting calyx ovate or globose- 

 ovate, 5-angled. (P. Elliottii, Kunze. P. maritima, M. A. Curtis ?) Dry sandy 

 soil, Florida to North Carolina. July- Oct. . Stem 1 high, erect or diffuse. 

 Leaves l'-3' long. Fruiting calyx !'-!' long, smooth or hairy. 



3. P. angustifolia, Nutt. Smooth ; stem low, erect or at length diffuse, 

 3-4-angled; leaves linear or lanceolate, obtuse, entire, narrowed gradually at 

 the base into "a winged petiole ; calyx lobes short, triangular-ovate, obtuse, 

 tomentose on the margins ; corolla yellow, brownish-purple in the throat, 



