NIGIITSHADK FAMILT. 267 



slendur. Stigma somewhat 2-1obed or 2-lipped. Pod globular, in the com- 

 mon species prickly and 4-celled, but the 2 placentse-bearing or false par- 

 titions often incomijlete. Seeds toge and flat, somewhat kidney-shapod. 

 Flowers terminal or in the forks. 



■(- 4- -t- Calyx btU-shaped, cup-shaped^ or short-tubular^ in fruit persistent under or 

 partly covering the %-celltd berry ; shrubs^ with entire J ecUher-veined leaves. 



13. OESTRUM. Corolla tubular-funnel-form or club-shaped, the lobes folded or 



plaited lengthwise in the bud. Stamens included. Stigma capitate. Ovary 

 with few ovules in each cell. Berry few-seeded. Flowers in clusters. 



14. LYCIUII. Parts of the flower often in fours. Corolla funnel-form, bell- 



shaped or tubular, the lobes imbricated in the bud. Stigma capitate. Berry 

 mauy-seeded, red or reddish. Flowers solitary or umbeUed, lateral. 



1. NOLAWA. (From Latin nola, a little bell.) Cult, for ornament, from 

 coast of Peru and Chili ; the following procumbent and spreading, rather 

 fleshy-leaved, smooth except some scattered hairs on the'^alks, the showy 

 blue flowers solitary on axillary or lateral peduncles, opening in sunshine, all 

 summer. . 



N. atriplieifblia, with obovato or broadly spatulate leaves (resembling 

 those of Spinach, whence the specific name) ; sky-blue corolla 2' wide with 

 white and yellowish centre ; ovaries numerous in a heap, each 1 -celled and 

 1 -seeded. © 



N. prostrS.ta, now less common, has more petiolcd rather narrower leaves, 

 smaller pale violet-blue flower striped with purple, and few ovaries each of 2 - 4 

 cells. (J) 



2. LYCOPEESICUM, TOMATO. (Name in Greek means vmlf-peacl, 

 no obvious application. ) Fl. summer. 



L. esoul6lltuni, Tomato, cult, from trop. America, includes the manifold 

 varieties and forms ; hairy, rank-scented ; leaves interruptedly pinnate, larger 

 leaflets cut or pinnatifid ; flowers yellowish, by cultivation having their parts 

 often increased in number, the esculent red berry becoming several celled. @ 



3. SOLANUM, NIGHTSHADE, &c. (Derivation uncertain.) Flowers 

 mostly in corymb or raceme-like clusters, in summer. 



§ I. More or less prickly herbs^ith acute elongated-lanceohte anthers. 



* Vcn/ pi'ickhj ciOyx enclosing tk^Uiry berry ; anthers declined, unequal, one of 

 them much longer than the rest, leaves sinuately once to Ihrice pinnatifid. © 



S. rostrS,tum. Wild on plains W. of Mississippi, and becoming a weed 

 in some gardens, has yellow flowgrs, 1'- 1^' in diameter. 



S. heterodbxum. Wild-'S. W. beyond the Mississippi, sometimes cult, 

 for ornament, has violet-blue flowers, and the more divided leaves resemble 

 those of Watermelon, but are very pnckly. 



* » Calyx mostly somewhat prickly but not enclosing the fruit : anthers nearly equal. 

 S. Caroliii6nse, Horse-Nkttle. Wild weed in sandy soil from Conn. 



S. : ronghish-downy, 1° high, with ovatc-oblong angled or sinuate-lobed leaves, 

 yellowish prickles, and pale blue or white flowers almost 1' wide. 11 



S. aculeatl'ssimum. Weed introduced into waste places S., l°-2° 

 high, bristly hairy, greener and more prickly than the foregoing, with smaller 

 white flowers. ® 



S. Melongfena, Egg Plant, Aubergine. ' Cult, for the large oblong 

 or ovate violet-colored or white esculent fruit (2' -6' long) ; leaves ovate, rather 

 downy, obscurely sinuate ; corolla violet with yellow eye. ® 



§ 2. Plants not at all prickly : anthers blunt. 

 S. nigrum, Black or Common Nightshade. Low weed of shady 

 grounds, much branched, nearly smooth, with ovate wavy-toothed or sinuate 

 loaves, very small white flowers, and globular black berries said to be poison- 

 ous. @ 



