SOLANUM. 



Tour to eight inches. Flowers purple, large and handfome, 

 with rounded notched fegments. jintbcn yellow, foon 

 widely fpreading from each other. Fruit yellow, the fize 

 of a large plum, acid, fweetifh, but with a difagreeable 

 flavour. Fortter fays the inhabitants, as well as the fmall 

 birds, of New Zeeland, greedily devour this fruit, nor did 

 the European voyagers entirely rejeft it. 



S. corymbofum. Corymbofe Peruvian Nightfhade. Alt. 

 ed. I. V. f. 248. ed. 2. n. 11. Willd. n. 26. Jacq. Ic. Rar. 

 t. 40. Coll. v. I. 78. Retz. Obf. fafc. 5. 22.— Stem un- 

 armed, fomewhat (hrubby, fmooth. Leaves ovato-lanceo- 

 late, entire; tapering at the bale. Flower-ftalks lateral, 

 branched, corymbofe. — Found by Dombey at Lima, 

 growing near waters. M. Thouin fent feeds to Kew in 1786, 

 when we faw the plant flowering in the ftoves at Paris, in 

 Auguft. Its beauty fcarcely exceeds our wild S. nigrum. 

 The foivers are copious, fmall, purplifh. Clujlers feveral 

 together, on a common corymbofe ftalk, oppofite to each 

 leaf. BerriiS fcarlet, the fize of a fmall pea. 



S. quadrangulare. Quadrangular African Night(hade. 

 Linn. Suppl. 147. Willd. n. 27. Thunb. Prodr. 36. 

 (S. Dulcamara ^; Linn. Sp. PI. 264. S. craflifoUum ; 

 Lamarck Dift. v. 4. 284. S. dulcamarum africanum, fo- 

 liis crafGs hirfutis ; Dill. Elth. 365. t. 273. t. 352.)— Stem 

 flirubby, unarmed, angular, rough. Leaves ovate ; undi- 

 vided, or with angular lobes. Panicles terminal, cymofe. 

 — Found by Thunberg, at the Cape of Good Hope. Cul- 

 tivated by Sherard at Eltham, and therefore entitled to a 

 place in Mr. Alton's work. The figure of Dillenius is very 

 charaAeriilic, z% to the foliage zni foivers, but does not ex- 

 prefs the remarkably angular Jiem, except towards the top 

 of the fpecimen. Hence it has been overlooked with re- 

 gard to this plant. The branches in Thunberg's two fpcci- 

 mens before us are irregularly quadrangular, very rough, 

 with callous points and briftly hairs. Leaves italked, flefliy, 

 fmooth, except at the edges, an inch or inch and half long, 

 obtufe, ovate ; either quite entire, or on luxuriant flioots, 

 furnifhed with one or two large, prominent, tooth-like lobes 

 at each fide. Flowers larger, paler, and lefs expanded than 

 in our Dulcamara ; the points of the corolla hairy. 



S. bonarienfe. Tree Nightfhade. Linn. Sp. PI. 264. 

 Mant. 205. Willd. n. 29. Ait. n. iz. (S. bonarienfe 

 arborefcens, papas floribus ; Dill. Elth. 364. t. 272. f. 351.) 

 — Stem fhrubby, nearly unarmed. Leaves ovate-obiong, 

 waved and finuated, rough. Fruit half the diameter of the 

 flowers. — Native of Buenos Ayres. Railed from feed by 

 Sherard in 1726, or thereabouts, and now a frequent 

 greenhoufe plant, of a tall bufhy habit, efteemed for its 

 copious large white Jloivers, with orange anthers. The 

 leaves are from three to fix inches long, befprinkled with 

 little ftarry rigid hairs. Flower-JluHs corymbofe, oppofite 

 to the leaves. Berries yellow, fcarcely half an inch broad. 

 The youn^ Jlems are prickly in the lower part, and indeed 

 not unfrequently in the upper, fo that this fpecies would 

 Hand better in the lecond feftion. 



8. macrocarpon. Large-fruited Nightfliade. Linn. Mant. 

 205. Willd. n. 30. Ait. n. 13. (S. caule inermi futfruti- 

 cofo, foliis oblongo-ovatis finuatis utrinque glabris, flori- 

 bus alaribus ; Mill. Ic. v. 2. 196. t. 294. Lycoperficum 

 arborefcens, foliis angulatis, frutlu aureo ; Plum. Ic. 219. 

 t. 224. f. 2.) — Stem Ihrubby, unarmed. Leaves wedge- 

 fhaped, waved and finuated, fmooth. Fruit thrice the 

 diameter of the flowers — Native of Peru. A ftove-plant, 

 cultivated by Miller, and flowering in fummer. This is of 

 a larger fize, and ftouter habit, than the laft, with which 

 Linnxus long confounded it. Thu Jlewers are blue ; their 

 forolla fmaller, with more pointed fegments, and the corymbs 

 12 



lefs compound, than in S. bonarienfe, but the fruit it ten 

 times as large, fupported by a fhort thick llalk. 



S. tuberofum. Common Potatoe. Linn. Sp. PI. 265. 

 Willd. n. 31. Ait. n. 14. (S. tuberofum efculentum j 

 Bauh. Prodr. 89. Battata virginiana ; Ger. Em. 927. 

 Papas Peruanorum ; Befl. Hort. Eyfl;. autumn, t. 27. f. i.) 

 — Stem unarmed, herbaceous. Leaves interruptedly pin- 

 nate, entire. Flower-ftalks fubdivided — Native of Peru. 

 Gerarde fays he received roots from Virginia, which fuc- 

 ceeded well in his garden. No fimilar acquifition was ever 

 more important to this country. The herbage is annual, im- 

 patient of cold, bufliy, with copious roughifh leaves, pin- 

 nate in a lyrate form, with very fmall intermediate leaflets. 

 Flowers panicled, large, purplifli or white, drooping, very 

 handfome. Fruit globofe, purplifli. — For the different va- 

 rieties, ufes, and cultivation of this valuable plant, fee 

 Potatoe. 



S. Lycoperficum. Tomato, or Love-apple. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 265. Willd. n. 33. Ait. n. 15. (Poma amoris ; 

 Camer. Epit. 821. Ger. Em. 346. Befl. Hort. Eyft. 

 autumn, t. i, 2.) — Stem unarmed, herbaceous. Leaves 

 interruptedly pinnate, cut. Cluftcrs deeply divided, leaf- 

 lefs. Fruit fmooth. — Native of South America. A ten- 

 der annual, cultivated in England ever fince Gerarde's time, 

 for the fake of its large, varioudy-fhaped, fcarlet or orange 

 fruit, which many people efteem a great luxury, either in 

 foups ; or broiled with pepper and fait, as an addition to 

 roail-meat, or game. In the hotter parts of Europe, the 

 Tomato has more acidity and briflcnefs of flavour, and is 

 therefore the more welcome in fuch climates. It has alfo 

 the reputation of being Itimulant, or aphrodifiacal. The 

 root is fibrous. Herb of rank growth, weak and decumbent, 

 foetid, glutinous, downy. Leaflets acute, coarfely cut and 

 toothed, with a double feries of fmall ftalked intermediate 

 ones. Flowers yellow, in large divided bunches. Fruit 

 fhining, pendulous, very ornamental. — Whether Jacquin'« 

 Pfeudo-lycoperftcum, with its fimple clujlers, and fmall globu- 

 lar yrw;V, be a diftinft fpecies, we greatly doubt ; fee his 

 Hort. Vind. V. i.t. 11. Linnxus did not diltinguifli it. 

 Nor have we abfolute confidence even in 5. peruvianum, Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 265. Willd. n. 35. Jacq. Coll. v. 2. 284. Ic. 

 Rar. t. 327, diftinguiflied by its brafteated or hiiy clisfierj, 

 and fomewhat downy fruit. Its root indeed is perennial, 

 and the herbage more compaft, neat, and hoary, than the 

 common Love-apple. 



S. multifidum. Ragwort-leaved Nightfhade. Lamarck 

 Dift. v. 4. 287. lUuftr. t. 1 15. f. 3, not 2. — Stem herba- 

 ceous, unarmed, winged. Leaves doubly pinnatifid, ob- 

 tufe. Panicle cymofe. — Gathered by Dombey, in fandy 

 ground at Lima. The root is fibrous, apparently annual. 

 Stem twelve or eighteen inches high, branched, fpreading, 

 leafy, bordered at each fide with an entire, uninterrupted 

 wing. Leaves fucculent, rather downy, elegantly fubdi- 

 vided, decurrent ; all their lobes obtufe. Flowers white, 

 or purphfli, feveral together, in long-ftalked, terminal, 

 cymofe or ior^ieA panicles. Corolla but (lightly divided. 



S. nigrum. Common or Garden Nightfhade. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 266. Willd. n. 39. Fl. Brit. n. 2. Engl. Bot. t. 566. 

 Fl. Dan. t. 460. Curt. Lond. fafc. 2. t. 14. Woodv. 

 Med. Bot. t. 226. (S. hortenfe ; Ger. Em. 339. Camer. 

 Epit. 812. Matth. Valgr. v. 2. 415.) — Stem herbaceous, 

 unarmed, ereft. Leaves ovate, with tooth-hke angles. 

 Umbels lateral, drooping. — Native of cultivated and wafte 

 ground in all parts of the world. Root annual. Stem 

 bufliy, more or lefs angular. Leaves fcattered, ftalked, 

 ovate, nightly downy ; elongated at the bafe ; either entire, 

 wavy, or coarfely toothed, at the margin. Umbels lateral, 



not 



