SOLAITACE^, 383 



ornament, among which may he mentioned the Tobacco (Nicotiana) and the 

 closely aUied ornamental genera Petunia and Nierembergia, the Mandrake 

 (Mandragora), the Winter-cherry (Physalis), the Cayenne Pepper (Capsi- 

 cum), as well as the Cestrums and Fabianas and even Nolanas of our gardens, 

 which, although somewhat anomalous, are considered by most botanists aa 

 belonging to the Solanum family. 



I. DATURA. DATUEA. 



Coarse annuals or soft-wooded shrubs. Corolla long, funnel-shaped, and 

 regular. Capsule large, opening in 4 valves, and partially divided into 4 

 cells. 



A small genus, spreading over the warmer regions of the globe. The large, 

 shrubby Daturas often distinguished as Brugmansias on account of their 

 smooth, not prickly capsules, are from South America. 



1. Thorn-apple Datura. Datura Stramonium, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1288. Thorn-apple.) 



A coarse, glabrous or sUghtly downy annual, 1 or 2 feet high, with 

 spreading, forked branches. Leaves rather large, ovate, with irregular, an- 

 gular or pointed teeth or lobes. Flowers solitary, on short peduncles, in the 

 forks or at the ends of the branches. Calyx loosely tubular, about 1| inches 

 long, and falls oif after flowering, leaving a small rim imder the capsule. 

 Corolla above 3 inches long, bordered with 5 narrow, distant teeth, usually 

 white, but occasionally (especially in hot countries) purple. Capsule nearly 

 globular, very prickly, with numerous wrinkled seeds. 



A common roadside weed, in southern Eiu-ope and all over the warmer 

 parts of the globe, extending northward into southern Sweden. Appears 

 not unfrequently in southern England, but can scarcely be considered aa 

 naturalized. Fl. summer and autumn. 



II. HENBANE. HYOSCTAMUS. 



Coarse, usually hairy annuals or biennials. Corolla obUquely campanu- 

 late or shortly funnel-shaped, 5-lobed. Capsule enclosed in the enlarged 

 calyx, bursting when ripe round a circular raised ring immediately below 

 the hardened top. 



1. Common Henbane. Hyoscyamus niger, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 591.) 



A coarse, erect, branching annual, 1 to 2 feet high, more or less hairy and 

 viscid, with a nauseous smell. Leaves rather large, sessile ; the upper ones 

 clasping the stem, ovate, and irregidarly pinnatifid. Flowers very shortly 

 stalked; the lower ones in the forks of the branches; the upper ones sessile, 

 in one-sided leafy spikes, rolled back at the top before flowering. Calyx short 

 when in flower, but persists round the fruit, and then an inch long, strongly 

 veined, with 5 stiff, broad, almost prickly lobes. Corolla above an inch 

 long, pale dingy-yellow, with purpUsh veins. Capsule globular, with nu- 

 merous small seeds. 



In waste, stony places, on roadsides, etc., in central and southern Europe 

 and western Asia, and having been formerly much cultivated for its medi- 

 cinal properties has spread far into northern Europe. In Britain, chiefly 



