Solanacec? Physalis. 329 



assuming a reddish tinge, and enclosing the scarlet berries, 

 which persist a great part of the Winter. A native of Central 

 and Southern Europe. 



Ph. edulis, the Cape Gooseberry, is nothing but Ph. Peruvi- 

 ana, and is not indigenous at the Cape of Good Hope. This 

 species is occasionally grown, and will ripen its fruit against a 

 wall of southern aspect. 



5. HYOSCtAMUS. 



Annual or biennial herbs. Leaves lobed or pinnatifid, 

 usually viscid. Flowers regular, axillary. Calyx urceolate, 

 5-lobed. Corolla campanulate or funnel-shaped. Stamens 5, 

 declinate. Fruit a 2-celled many-seeded capsule, swollen at 

 the base, and constricted in the middle, and splitting trans- 

 versely near the top. There are twelve species, found in warm 

 and temperate parts of the Old World. The etymology of 

 the word is obscure. 



1. H. nlger. Henbane. This plant is either annual or 

 biennial, and is merely included here on account of its 

 medicinal and poisonous properties. It is a branching viscid 

 foetid herb with hairy lobed or toothed leaves and sub-sessile 

 yellowish flowers veined with purple. These characters taken 

 with those given above will be sufficient to distinguish it, as 

 no other species grows wild or is generally cultivated in this 

 country. 



Mandr agora autumnalis^ syn. M. officinalis, is a hand- 

 some allied herbaceous plant with large fleshy roots, sinuate 

 tufted radical leaves, and solitary scapose deep blue flowers, 

 appearing in Autumn. 



6. ATROPA. 



This genus includes only one species, distinguished by its 

 campanulate regular corolla and baccate 2-celled many-seeded 

 fruit subtended by the foliaceous persistent calyx. The name 

 is from "AT^OTTOS, one of the Fates, from its highly poisonous 

 properties. 



1. A. Belladonna. Deadly Nightshade, Dwale. A stout 

 branching perennial, 2 to 4 feet high. Leaves ovate, acuminate, 

 in unequal pairs, 4 to 8 inches long. Flowers solitary, 

 pedunculate, green and purple. Berry black and fleshy, about 

 the size of a small cherry. Found on chalky soil and waste 

 places in this country. 



