NIGHTSHADE 



Flowers. — Blue, purple, or white, borne in compound cymes. 



Ca/ya;.— Bell-shaped; lobes short, obtuse, persistent at the base of 

 the berry. 



Corolla. — Rotate, five-lobed; lobes triangular -lanceolate. 



Stamens.— Vi\&, inserted on the throat of the corolla; anthers oblong, 

 grown together into a cone and discharging pollen by a terminal opening. 



Ovary. — Two-celled; style slender, protruding from the anther cone; 

 stigma small. 



Fruit. — Oval or globose berry, red, shining. 



This is the errant vine so often found about dwellings, whose 

 pretty blue blossoms and shining red berries are so attractive to 

 children. The berries are so pretty that it seems as if they ought 

 to be good to eat, and children are warned with many repetitions 

 that they are poisonous. 



Other species of Solanacem are: 



Three species of the Cup-flower, Nierembergia, all excellent 

 for use in hanging baskets and veranda porches. Their name 

 is a tribute to the name and virtues of John E. Nieremberg 

 (1490-1563), a Spanish Jesuit, and first professor of natural his- 

 tory at Madrid. They are perennials from South America, 

 closely allied to the petunia and characterized by the long and 

 very slender tube of the corolla. Possibly Nierembergia gracilis, 

 bearing white flowers with purple centre, is the favorite. This 

 has varied into several garden forms. The two other species are 

 frutiscens and rivularis. 



The Ground Cherry, Physalis alkekengi, sometimes called the 

 Strawberry Tomato, is an old garden plant grown, for its bright- 

 red inflated calyx, which surrounds the cherry-like fruit. It is 

 pereimial, but grown at the north as an annual. The variety 

 Francheti, called the Chinese Lantern Plant, has a larger and 

 more showy calyx. The species is native from south-eastern 

 Europe to Japan. The flowers are of the solanum type. 



Among plants of economic value is the Red Pepper, Capsicum 

 dnnuum, native of Chili, cultivated for the large or small, oblong or 



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