PHYSALIS 



NIGHTSHADE OBDEB 



LYCIUM 691 



solitary and stalked in the leaf axils, violet, 

 yellowish or white, often purple at the 

 base. Calyx bell-shaped or conical, 5- 

 -cleft, 5-angled or prominently lO-riblsed, 

 ■often ultimately inflated or balloon-like 

 and enclosing the ripe fruits. Corolla 

 somewhat rotate or broadly bell-shaped, 

 5-angled or shortly 5-lobed. Stamens 5. 

 ■Ovary 2-celled. Stigma 2-cleft. Berry 

 globose, enclosed by and' much smaller 

 than the inflated calyx. Seeds numerous. 

 Culture and Propagation. — The kinds 

 mentioned below are the only ones worth 

 growing. They thrive in fairly rich 

 sandy soU and leaf-mould, and are 

 perfectly hardy. They are very orna- 

 mental in late summer and autumn on 

 account of the bright orange-red balloon- 

 like calyces which have been popularly 

 termed ' Chinese Lanterns.' They are 

 easily raised from seeds sown in autumn 

 in cold frames, or in spring in the 

 open ground. They may also be divided 

 when the leaves and stems have died 

 ■down ; or during the summer months 

 the tops of the shoots may be inserted in 

 sandy moist soil as cuttings, when they 

 will soon root in a cool shady place. 

 It may be mentioned here that the name 

 ' Winter Cherry ' is applied with much 

 .appropriateness to Solanum capaicas- 

 trum, a greenhouse shrubby species with 

 scarlet Cherry-like fruits. 



P. Alkekengi [Winter Cherry). — A 

 ■dwarf branching perennial, 1-1 J ft. high, 

 ■extending from S.E. Europe to China 

 in, a wild state. Leaves in pairs, entire, 

 more or less ovate-acute, on long stalks. 

 Flowers in summer, rotate, whitish, 

 solitary, on slender stalks springing from 

 the leaf axils. Ripened calyx blood-red, 

 about 1 in. or more in diameter, and 

 enclosing a scarlet berry containing 

 nimierous flat yellow seeds. If allowed 

 to remain on the plant during the winter, 

 the calyx becomes skeletonised, all the 

 fleshy tissue rotting away, leaving only 

 the beautiful tracery of netted 'veins. 

 Culture dc. as above. Increased by 

 seeds, cuttings, or division. Owing to 

 the brilliant colour of the inflated calyces 

 and the profusion in which they are borne, 

 this species and the following are in great 

 demand by florists, who use them for 

 decorative purposes either in bunches by 

 themselves or mixed with other flowers. 



P. Francheti. — A vigorous and highly 

 ■ornamental Japanese perennial, 1-2 ft. 



high, with broadly ovate oblong leaves, 

 3-4 in. long, white flowers and orange- 

 red inflated calyces, about 3 in. long, and 

 8-9 in circumference, strongly ribbed, and 

 drooping. It is altogether larger in every 

 part and more robust than P. Alkekengi, 

 and will flourish under similar conditions. 

 As a pot plant it can be made into fine bushy 

 specimens covered with its Chinese Lan- 

 tern-like fruits, which look extremely hand- 

 some in the greenhouse or conservatory. 



Culture do. as above. Increased by 

 seeds, cuttings, or division. 



JABOROSA.— A genus having 6 or 7 

 species of perennial herbs, often with 

 thickish roots and creeping, trailing, and 

 tufted stems. Leaves toothed, Dandelion- 

 like or deeply divided. Plowers white or 

 dull yellow. Calyx bell-shaped S-cleft. 

 , Corolla rather funnel-shaped with a long 

 tube often very hairy at the base, and 

 5 acute spreading lobes. Stamens 

 insulated above the middle of the tube. 

 Ovary 2-5-eelled, becoming a, roundish 

 berry when mature. 



J. integrifolia. — A pretty perennial 

 about 6 in. high, native of Buenos Ayres. 

 It makes compact tufts of deep green 

 stalked oval and almost entire leaves. 

 During the summer months it produces 

 white funnel-shaped flowers. 



Culture and Propagation. — This 

 attractive plant flourishes in ordinary^ 

 good garden soil of a sandy nature in the 

 rock garden or border, and likes to be fully 

 exposed to the sun in sheltered situations. 

 It may be increased by dividing the tufts 

 in spring as growth is commencing ; by 

 inserting cuttings of the non-flowering 

 shoots in cold frames during the summer 

 months ; and also by sowing seeds, when 

 ripe or in spring, in cold frames 



LYCIUM (Box Thorn).— An exten- 

 sive genus of small trees or shrubs, with 

 the joints often produced into spines. 

 Leaves entire, Unear-roundish or flat and 

 often short. Flowers stalked, solitary, or 

 in clusters in the axils of the leaves, 

 white, pale violet, rosy, scarlet, or yellow- 

 ish. Calyx bell-shaped, truncate and 

 irregularly 3-5-toothed or cleft. Corolla 

 tubular funnel-shaped, or somewhat bell- 

 shaped or urn-shaped, with 5 flat lobes 

 (rarely 4), and a short or long tube. 

 Stamens 5, rarely 4, protruding or not. 

 Disc angular or cup-shaped. Ovary 2- 

 ceUed. Fruit a round, ovoid, or oblong 

 berry, enclosed in the calyx tube. 



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