NIGHTSHADE FAMILY 491 
very rapidly. The Dodders are parasitic plants and do much 
damage in Clover, Alfalfa, and Flax fields, where they twine 
about the plants and grow their roots into their stems and 
rob them of their food. 
Nightshade Family (Solonaceae). — This family is the one to 
which the Irish Potato, Tomato, and Tobacco belong. Some 
authors give the number of species as about 1700. Both the 
five sepals and five petals 
are more or less joined 
(Fig. 440). The stamens 
are five and usually inserted 
on the corolla. The Irish 
Potato (Solanum tuberosum) 
is probably the most im- 
portant plant of this group 
and Tobacco (Nicotiana 
Tabacum) next. Some years 
the potato crop in the 
United States is more than 
300,000,000 bushels. New 
York is the chief potato 
growing state, although 
many potatoes are grown in 
Michigan, Wisconsin, and 
Pennsylvania. 
The Tomato (Lycopersi- 
cum esculentum), when first 
introduced from tropical 
America as an ornamental Fic. 442.— A portion of the Horse 
. : Nettle, showing flowers and fruits and 
plant, was considered raaead the spiny character of the plant (xX 4). 
ous, but now its fruits are After Dewey. 
important vegetables. 
In some of the Southern states, as Kentucky, North Caro- 
lina, and Virginia, Tobacco is one of the leading agricultural 
products, while in many other states it is grown in considerable 
quantities. Some other cultivated plants of this family are the 
Egg Plant, Cayenne Pepper, Petunia, and Belladonna. 
To this family belong a number of weeds, some of which are 
quite troublesome. The Black Nightshade (Solanum nigrum) 
and Jimson Weed (Datura Stramonium) (Fig. 441) are common 
