148 Nightshade (Solanacea). [No. 1? 



each lobe. Calyx, five-parted, persistent. Stamens, 

 exserted, equal, with very short filaments, inserted on 

 the corolla alternate with its lobes. Anthers, blunt, 

 opening at the apex, united around the single style. 

 Stigma, one. Seed-case, free, two-celled, many-seeded. 

 June to September. 



Leaves, mostly simple and egg-shape, alternate, with rank 

 odor when crushed ; the upper ones usually with two 

 ear-like lobes or two leaflets at the base. Edges, entire. 

 Base, usually heart-shape. Apex, pointed. 



Fruit, bright red, oval, two-celled, many-seeded ; in 

 bunches that remain long after the leaves have fallen. 

 It is said to be poisonous when eaten. A berry. 



Found, in moist ground, oftenest around dwellings, from 

 New England to Arkansas. Naturalized from 

 Europe, 



A woody climber, or trailer, sometimes five or six feet 

 in length ; not to be confused with our very different 

 native Bitter-Sweet, C. scdndens. It is one of the numer- 

 ous plants which have lost their former reputation for high 

 medicinal qualities. Concerning the effects of the berries 

 when eaten there is the most conflicting testimony. Some 

 claim that the fruit is extremely poisonous, others that it 

 is harmless. The rind of the stalk is said to have a taste 

 at first bitter, then sweet, whence one of its popular 

 names. 



(2) Genus Lycium, L. 



Named from the country of Lycia, where the species was native. 

 Fig. 71.— Matrimony-Vine. [Z. vulgare, Dunal. L. bdrbarum, Z.] 



Flowers, greenish-purple, solitary or in pairs from the 

 axils of the leaves, Corolla, five-lobed, the lobes, 

 spreading. Calyx, mostly three-cleft, persistent. 



