578 Okdbe 94— SOLANACEiE. 



8 S. Caroliu^nse L. Hoese Nettle. St. and petioles aculeate; Ivs. oblong- 

 ovate, petiolate, strigoug, angular-lobate, acute, mid vein beneathi witti a few spines; 

 roc, miked, loose, supra-axillary ; berries globous. — U Roadsides, &c., N. T. to 

 III. and Ga. A rough weed, 1 — 2f high, armed with straw-colored, scattered 

 prickles. Leaves 4 — 6' by 2 — 3', usually in unequal pairs, with a few lai^, re- 

 pand lobes or teeth. Flowers white, lateral and terminal. Corolla white, 12 — 

 15" diam. Berries yellow. Jn. 



9 S. Virginianum L. St. erect, prickly ; Ivs. long-petioled, deeply pmncUifid, lobes 

 (mgular-sinuate, acute or obtuse, pubescent ; petiole and midvein prickly, margins 

 oiliate ; roc. leafy, prickly. — Ta. to Car. (Pursh.), Ga. (Feay, Pond.) Plant much 

 branched, 18' to 3f high, bright green, roughish with minute tomentum. Sts. 

 slightly angular. Lvs. 7 to 9-lobed. Cor. 15" broad, pale violet. Auth. 4", 

 linear. Prickles straight, 5" and less, whitish. JL 



10 S. mammosum L. Apple op Sodom. St. herbaceous, villous, with scat- 

 tered spines ; lvs. roundish-ovate, subcordate, lobed, both sides aculeate and very 

 villous ; berries inversely pear-shaped (mammosa.) — ® TVasfce places, roadsides, 

 Car. (Pursh), Ga., Ala. (Montgomery), to La. A woolly, spiny weed, 1 to 3f high. 

 Lvs. about as broad as long, 3 to T-lobed, paler beneath, armed on the veins with 

 straight spines 3 to 8" long. Cor. violet colored, 6-parted, 12 to 15" diam., soft 

 villous outside. Fr. yellow, at first globular. May, Jn. (S. pumilum Dun., same 

 as S. hirsutum Nutt., is probably a starved form of this species.) 



11 S. esculentum DunaL Eea Plant. jS*. prickly; lvs. ovate, subsiuu- 

 ate, downy, prickly ; fls. 6 to 9-parted. — (J) An herbaceous, bra'nohing plant, 

 about 2f high. The fruit, with which it is heavily laden, consists of egg-shaped 

 berries, from the size of an egg to that of an ordinary water melon, smooth, and 

 of a glossy purple. It is considered wholesome and delicious. Like the tomato, 

 it is cultivated from the seed sown early in warm, dry, and mellow soil, f 



(3. Fr. smaller, white. — Cultivated for the curiosity of the fruit, which when 

 ripe can scarcely be distinguished by its app6arance from a hen's egg. 



3. CAP'SICUM, Tourn. Pepper. (Gr. Kdnru, to bite.) Calyx 

 erect, 6-cleft, persistent ; cor. rotate, tube very short, limb plaited, 5- 

 lobed ; anthers connivent ; fruit capsular, dry^ inflated, 2 to 3-celled ; 

 seeds flat, very acrid. — A large genus of herbaceous or shrubby plants, 

 pervaded by a heating, acrid principle. Lvs. often in pairs. Pad. axil- 

 lary, solitary. 



C. dnnuum L. Red Pepper. . Cayenne Pepper. St. herbaceous, angular, 

 branching above ; lvs. ovate, acuminate, entire, petiolate, glabrous ; ped. smooth ; 

 cal. angular, with short, acute lobes ; cor. lobes spreading, longer than the stam- 

 ens ; berry oblong or subglobous, red. — Q India. Cultivated for its fruit, whose 

 stimulant properties are well known. — There are in gardens several varieties in 

 respect to the fruit. 



4. NICAN'DRA, Adans. Apple of Peru. (In honor of Meander^ 

 a Greek physician, d. c. 50.) Calyx 5-cleft, 5-angled, the angles com- 

 pressed, sepals sagittate ; corolla campanulate ; stamens 5, incurved ; 

 berry 3 to 6-celled, enveloped in the persistent calyx. — ® Peruvian 

 herbs. 



N. physaloides Adans. St. herbaceous; lvs. glabrous, ample, ovate-oblong, 

 sinuate, angular ; fls. solitary, axillary, on short peduncles ; cal. closed, with the 

 angles very acute. — Cultivated in gardens, whence it has strayed into the neigh- 

 boring fields. It is a large, coarse herb, 2 to 6f high, very branching. Lvs. 4 to 

 7' long, 2 to 4' wide, deourrent. Cor. slightly lobed, white, with blue spots in 

 the center. JI. — Sept. § Peru. 



5. PHYS'ALIS, L. Ground Cherry. (Gr. (pvaaktg, a' bladder; 

 the inflated calyx inclosing the fruit.) Calyx 5-cleft, persistent, at length 

 ventricous ; corolla campanulate-rotate, tube very short, limb obscurely 



