Solanacee — Physalis. 329 
assuming a reddish tinge, and enclosing the scarlet berries, 
which persist a great part of the Winter. A native of Central 
and Southern Europe. 
Ph. édulis, the Cape Gooseberry, is nothing but Ph. Peruvi- 
ana, and is not indigenous at the Cape of Good Hope. This 
species is occasionally grown, and will ripen its fruit against a 
wall of southern aspect. 
5. HYOSCYAMUS. 
Annual or biennial herbs. Leaves lobed or pinnatifid, 
usually viscid. Flowers regular, axillary. Calyx urceolate, 
5-lobed. Corolla campanulate or funnel-shaped. Stamens .5, 
declinate. Fruit a 2-celled many-seeded capsule, swollen at 
the base, and constricted in the middle, and splitting trans- 
versely near the top. There are twelve species, found in warm 
and temperate parts of the Old World. The etymology of 
the word is obscure. 
1. H. niger. Henbane.—This plant is either annual or 
biennial, and is merely included here on account of its 
medicinal and poisonous properties. It is a branching viscid 
feetid herb with hairy lobed or toothed leaves and sub-sessile 
yellowish flowers veined with purple. These characters taken 
with those given above will be sufficient to distinguish it, as 
no other species grows wild or is generally cultivated in this 
country. 
Mandragora autumndalis, syn. M. officinalis, is a band- 
some allied herbaceous plant with large fleshy roots, sinuate 
tufted radical leaves, and solitary scapose deep blue flowers, 
appearing in Autumn. 
6. ATROPA. 
This genus includes only one species, distinguished by its 
campanulate regular corolla and baccate 2-celled many-seeded 
fruit subtended by the foliaceous persistent calyx. The name 
is from ”Atpomros, one of the Fates, from its highly poisonous 
properties. 
1. A. Belladénna. Deadly Nightshade, Dwale.—A_ stout 
branching perennial, 2 to 4 feet high. Leaves ovate, acuminate, 
in unequal pairs, 4 to 8 inches long. Flowers solitary, 
pedunculate, green and purple. Berry black and fleshy, about 
the size of a small cherry. Found on chalky soil and waste 
places in this country. 
