Withcmia.] xci. solanace^e (wright). 249 



serted near the corolla-base ; filaments slightly flattened ; anthers 

 erect ; cells parallel, dehiscing longitudinally. Disk annular, crenulate 

 or none. Ovary 2-celled ; style filiform ; stigma shortly and widely 

 2-lamellate or subglobose ; ovules many. Berry globose, shorter than 

 the enlarged calyx. Seeds compressed ; embryo near the margin, and 

 incurved or spiral ; cotyledons semiterete. — Hoary shrubs, loosely 

 tomentose, woolly or glabrescent. Leaves entire or slightly sinuate. 

 Flowers usually fascicled, subsessile or shortly pedicellate, medium- 

 sized. 



Species about 5, extending- from Southern Europe and Western Asia through 

 North Africa, the Canary Islands, and South Africa. 



Pedicels i-2 lin. long . . . . . . 1. W, somnifera. 



Pedicels 4-7 lin. long 



Calyx-lobes obtuse . . . . . . . 2. W. Holstii. 



Calyx-lobes filiform, aristate . . . . 3. W- aristata. 



1. W. somnifera, Dunal in DO. Prodr. xiii. i. 453. An erect 

 much-branched shrub, 3-4 ft. high. Stem terete, tomentose. Leaves 

 ovate, obovate or oblong, obtuse, tapering towards the base, entire or 

 very slightly sinuate, variable in size, averaging 2-^- by 1 in., more or 

 less tomentose on both surfaces ; petiole ^ in. long, tomentose, chan- 

 nelled above. Flowers 4-6 in axillary fascicles; pedicels 2 lin. long in 

 flower, elongating afterwards. Calyx 1 lin. in diam., campanulate, 

 densely tomentose outside ; lobes 5, lanceolate. Corolla 2^ lin. long, 

 •divided nearly to the middle into 5 triangular lobes. Filaments inserted 

 near the corolla-base, 1^ lin. long, filiform ; anthers oval, ^ lin. long. 

 Ovary ovoid, glabrous ; style shorter than the stamens. Berry globose, 

 glabrous, ^ in. in diam., enclosed in the much inflated calyx. Seeds 

 compressed. — Boiss. Fl. Orient, iv. 287; C. B. Clarke in Hook. f. Fl. 

 Brit. Ind. iv. 239 ; Vatke in Linnsea, xliii. 333 ; Engl. Pfl. Ost-Afr. C. 

 351, and Glied. Fl. Usamb. 39; C. H. Wright in Dyer, Fl. Cap. iv. ii. 

 107. W. ? arborescens, Dunal, I.e. 455. Physalis somnifera, Linn. Sp. 

 PI. ed. 1, 182 ; Sibth. Fl. Grseca, t. 233 ; var. communis, Nees in 

 Linnaea, vi. 455; var. flexuosa, Nees, I.e. 454; Wight, Ic. t. 853. 

 P. tomentosa. Thunb. Prcclr. 37, and Fl. Cap. ed. Schult. 191. P. 

 ■arbor esce«s, Linn. Sp. PI. ed. 2, 261. Hypnoticum somniferum, Roclrig. 

 ex Dunal, I.e. 453. Physaloides somnifera, Moench, Meth. 473 ; Hiern 

 in Cat. Air. PI. Welvv. i. 752. 



Upper Guinea. Liberia: Cape Pahnas, Yogel, 35! Northern Nigeria: 

 Kut. i on Lake Chad, Yogel, 58 ! 



Wile Land. Xubia : Singat, Schtveinfurth, 218! Alerowa, Broomfield, 21! 

 Fasboda, Muriel, 97! Bahr el Jebel, Broun, 35 ! Darfur, Purdy, 125! Kordofan, 

 Pfund, 106 ! Kotschy, 374 ! Eritrea, Schweinfurth, 1065 ! Abvssinia, Roth, 453 

 (86)! Quartin-Dillon Se Petit, 234! SonmliLnd : Zaf'arug, James 8r Thrupp ! 

 Uganda : various localit'es, Speke 8c Grant, 661 ! Whyte '.' Scott-Elliot, 7277 ! 

 Dawe, 316 ! Brown, 271 ! Britisb East Africa ; Ukamba, Scott-Elliot, 6315 ! 

 Kibwtrzi River, Kdssner, 688 ! Shimoni, Whyte ! 



Lower Guinea. Angola : Huilla ; near LopolLi, Welwitsch, 6025 ! Benguella ; 

 near the mouth of the River Cavaco, Welwitsch, 6027 ! Mossamedes, by the River 



