248 



CLASSIFICATION 



and), the pulpy edible berries of which lie concealed 

 within a yellow accrescent calyx; dhutura or Thorn 

 Apple {Datura Stramonium), the seeds of which are 

 highly poisonous. Notice that in cross-sections of the 

 young fruit it is 2-celled at the top and 4-celled at 

 the bottom ; tamak or Tobacco {Nicotiana Tabacum) ; 



aswagandha ( Wi- 

 thania som,nifera), 

 cultivated for its 

 reputed alexi-phar- 

 mic properties. Be- 

 sides Tobacco and 

 Datura, there are 

 several other nar- 

 cotic and poisonous 

 plants, such as 

 A tropa Belladonna, 

 Hyoscyamus, &c. 



TheOrder is allied 

 to ConvolvulacecB, 

 but differs in habit, 

 and in having 

 many-seeded fruits. 

 Datura Stra- 

 monium (fig. 215) 

 bears homogamous 

 moth-flowers which secrete honey at the base of the 

 ovary, and possess a well-marked disagreeable musky 

 odour, and when freshly opened the odour is stronger 

 in the evening than during the day. As night-flowers 

 they have no nectar-guides and are white in colour, 

 sometimes with a pink or bluish tinge. The big 

 funnel-shaped corolla closes periodically, and always 

 in dull weather. A variety with drooping flowers is 

 found in gardens. Nicotiana Tabacum with nectar- 



Fig. 215. — Dhutura {Datura Sframoniufn) 



, Whole flower with tubular calyx. b, Infundibuli- 

 form corolla cut open, c', Four-celled ovary. 



