844 solanacejB. [Solatium. 



Hongkong, Wrighi. Not seen in any other collection. It is witt mnch hesitation that I 

 publish a new species of so vast and confused a genus as Solanum. But I have endeavoured in 

 vain to match this fine plant either with any specimen in our herbaria, or with any of 

 Duiial's diagnoses. It appears to belong to his group of MeUmgenas. 



%. PHYSALIS, Linn. 



Calyx 5-toothed or 5-lobed, inflated after flowering. Corolla broadly cam- 

 panulate or nearly rotate, 5-angled, folded in the bud. Anthers short, open- 

 ing longitudinally. Ovary 3-celled. Beny globular, enclosed in the inflated 

 calyx. — Herbs either annual or with a perennial stock. Leaves often in pairs. 

 Flowers solitaiy, on axillary or lateral pedicels. 



A genus rather numerous in America, one or two species extending over the warmer re- 

 gions of the Old World as well as the New. 



1. P. angiilata, Linn. ; Dun. in DC. Prod. xiii. part i. 448. A gla- 

 brous annual, with very spreading branches, 1 to 2 ft. high. Leaves on long 

 petioles, ovate, oblong or almost lanceolate, usually acute, with a few coarse 

 irregular teeth. Flowering calyx about 1^ lines long, with 5 triangular acute 

 rather short lobes, truncate at the base. Corolla about twice as long, pale yel- 

 low, often marked with 5 pui^le spots. Fruiting calyx above 1 in. long, 5- 

 angled, with 5 short connivent teeth, enclosing a small globular berry. — P. 

 Linkiuna, Nees, P. capsicifolia, Dun., and probably several other species enu- 

 merated in DC. Prod. xiiL, pars i. p, 448, 449, etc. 



In waste places, Chamjion. JVequent in tropical America and Africa, and very common 

 in India. The species should also perhaps include as a pubescent variety the common 

 Indian P. minima^ Linn. 



3. NICANDRA, Gsertn. 



Calyx of 5 distinct broadly-cordate sepals, becoming much enlarged and 

 inflated in fruit. Corolla campanulate, with 5 broad short lobes, folded (and 

 perhaps also slightly imbricated) in the bud. Anthers short, opening longi- 

 tudinally. Ovai-y 3- to 5-celled. Fi-uit a berry, enclosed in the enlarged 

 calyx. 



A genus limited to a single species. 



1. N. physalodes, Q<Krtn. ; Dun. in DC. Prod. xiii. part i. 434 ; Bat. 

 Mag. t. 2458, An erect glabrous annual or biennial, attaining sometimes 5 

 or 6 feet. Leaves stalked, ovate, irregularly sinuate or coarsely toothed or 

 lobed, 8 or 4 in. long, or sometimes larger. Flowers pale-blue, solitaiy, on 

 ■short pedicels in the upper axUs, forming a tei-minal leafy raceme. Sepals at 

 the time of flowering a little more than \ in. long, and herbaceous, when in 

 fwit above- 1 in. long, thin and much veined, and closely connivent, forming 

 a vesicular calyx with verj' prominent angles. Corolla neai-ly 1 in. long. Berry 

 globular. 



In waste places, escaped from gardens, Sance. A S. American species, which has esla- 

 blisied itself as a weed in several parts of the warmer regions of the Old World. 



4. LYCIUM, Linn. 



Calyx 5-toothed or 6-lobed, persistent, but scarcely enlarged after flower- 

 ing. Corolla tubular or funnel-shaped, with a smaU'or campanulate 5-lobed 



