316 PENTANDRIA— MONOGYNIA. Atiopa. 

 115. ATROPA. Dwale. 



Linn. Gen. 90. Juss. 125. Fl. Br. 255. Lam. t. 1 14. Gccrtn. t. 131. 

 Belladonna. Tourn. 1. 13. 



Nat. Ord. see n. 112. 



Cal. inferior, of 1 leaf, in 5 deep, acute, somewhat unequal 

 segments, permanent. Cor. of 1 petal, bell-shaped ; tube 

 very short; limb tumid, ovate, longer than the calyx, 

 with 5 shallow, nearly equal, spreading marginal seg- 

 ments. Filam. from the tube, awl-shaped, nearly as long 

 as the limb, spreading and curved in their upper part. 

 Anth. deflexed, heart-shaped, 4-lobed, tumid. Germ. 

 ovate, with a nectariferous gland underneath. Style thread- 

 shaped, reclining, as long as the corolla. Stigma capitate, 

 ascending. Berry subtended by the enlarged calyx, glo- 

 bular, with 2 lateral furrows, of 2 cells ; receptacles fleshy, 

 1 in each cell, attached to the transverse partition. Seeds 

 numerous, kidney-shaped. 



Herbaceous or shrubby, smooth or downy, of a narcotic 

 and dangerous quality. Leaves stalked, simple, mostly 

 undivided. Fl. lateral ; solitary or aggregate. 



1. A. Belladonna. Common Dwale. Deadly Night- 

 shade. 

 Stem herbaceous. Leaves ovate, undivided. Flowers solitary. 



A. Belladonna. Linn. Sp. PI. 260. WilU.v. 1. 1017. Fl.Br.255. 

 Engl. Bot. V. 9. t. 592. Curt. Land. fasc. 5. t. 16. Woodv. Med. 

 Bot. t. 1. Hook. Scot. 78. Jacq. Austr. L 309. Bull. Fr. t.29. 



Belladonna. Raii Syn. 265. Mill. Ic. t.62. 



B.n. 579. Hall. Hist. V. 1.251. 



Solanum lethale. Ger.Em 340./. 



S. majus, sive Herba Belladonna. Matth. Valgr. v. 2. 419./. Ga- 

 mer, Epit. 817./. 



In hedges and waste ground, on a calcareous soil ; frequently 

 about antient ruins. 



Perennial. June. 



Root fleshy, creeping. Whole plant fetid when bruised, of a dark 

 and lurid aspect, indicative of its deadly narcotic quality. Stems 

 herbaceous, annual, three feet high, round, branched, leafy, 

 slightly downy. Leaves lateral, mostly 2 together of unequal 

 size, ovate, acute, entire, smooth. Fl. imperfectly axillary, so- 

 litary, stalked, drooping, dark dull purple in the border, paler 

 downwards, about an inch long. Berry of a shining violet black, 

 the size of a small cherry, .sweetish, and not nauseous, so that 

 children have often been tempted to eat it, to their own de- 



