SOLANUM. 



aot quite oppofite to the leaves, folitary, ftalked, compofed 

 of numerous fmall white jlo'uiers, witli yellow anthers. 

 Berries the fize of currants, ufually black, but occafionally 

 yellow, even in England, according to Hudfoii. Authors 

 enumerate feveral varieties of this fpecies, differing in the 

 more or lefs angular, and fomewhat crifped or toothed, 

 jtem, and more hairy or fmoother herbage. Willdcnow fays 

 thefe are permanent, but we can fcarcely define the diftinc- 

 tive marks of each. Several of them are exhibited in Dill. 

 Elth. t. 274 and 275. 



S. angujlifollum. Narrow-leaved Nightfhade. Lamarck 

 Dift. V. 4. 291. — Stem unarmed, fomewhat herbaceous. 

 Leaves ftalked, linear-lanceolate, obtufe, entire, fmooth. Cluf- 

 ters lateral, divided. — Gathered by Cemmerfon at Buenos 

 Ayres. "Thejlem is branched, leafy, fomewhat angular, xig- 

 zag, or perhaps rather twining. Leaves alternate, uniform, 

 about two inches long, and a quarter or half an inch broad, 

 with one rib, and a few lateral connefted veins. Flowers, 

 in our folitary fpecimen, certainly not terminal, but oppo- 

 fite to a leaf, in a divided clujier, not numerous, on long par- 

 tial ftalks. Calyx hemifpherical, nearly or quite fmooth, 

 with very unequal broad fegments. Corolla blue, half an 

 inch wide, finely downy at the outfide. 



S. betaceum. Beet-leaved Nightfhade. Cavan. Ic. v. 6. 

 I J. t. 524. Ait. n. 18. Aiidr. Repof. t. 511. — Stem 

 fhrubby, round, unarmed. Leaves ovate, pointed, flefhy, 

 fmooth ; heart-fhaped at the bafe ; wavy at the edges. Cluf- 

 ters lateral, ftalked, divided, pendulous. — Probably a na- 

 tive of South America. Seed;', were fent, in 1803, by Ca- 

 vanilles, from the Madrid garden to the writer of this ar- 

 ticle. The plant is gigantic, twelve feet high or more, 

 flefhy, very foetid when touched or bruifed, growing luxu- 

 riantly if turned out againft a fouth wall in fummer, but not 

 of lufficient beauty to excite general notice. Some leaves 

 meafure twenty inches in length, and fifteen in breadth. The 

 Jloiuers are fmall in proportion, not quite fo big as a potatoe- 

 bloffom, but more deeply divided, light purple with yellow 

 iinlhers. 



S. Melongena. Egg-plant Nightfhade. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 266. Willd. n. 41. Ait. n. 19. (Melongena; Camer. 

 Epit. 820. Matth. Valgr. v. 2. 424. Mala infana ; Ger. 

 Em. 345. Fuchf Hift. 533. Mclauzana fruftu pallido ; 

 Befl. Hort. Eyit. autumn, t. 3.) — Stem herbaceous, un- 

 armed. Leaves ovate, wavy, clothed with Harry down. 

 Flower-ftalks deflexed, fwelhng. Calyx moftly unarmed. 

 Fruit ovate, fmooth and even. Native of tropical climates ; 

 cultivated in various parts of the world by means of hot -beds 

 or iloves, for the fake of its fruit, which relembles a large 

 egg, and is ufually of a pure polifhed white, though fome- 

 times tinged with violet. It is eaten in Italy, Spain, and 

 other warm countries, like the Tomato. We have under 

 the article Melongena, traced the origin of that word, 

 and ventured to derive from thence the frightful appellation 

 of Main infana. Mad-apples, given to the fruit in queftion, 

 which it appears not particularly to defervc. The herbage is 

 branched, clothed with ftarry, not very denfe, pubefccnce. 

 Flowers purplifh, large, drooping, lateral or axillary, not 

 many together. Segments of the calyx lanceolate, or nearly 

 linear ; fometimes prickly. — Gerarde fays of thefe apples, 

 " the people of Toledo eat them with great devotion, being 

 boiled with fat flcfh, putting to it lome fcraped cheele, 

 which" (the apples) " they do keep iu vinegar, honey, or 

 fait pickle, to procure lull." 



Sedlion 2. Prickly. Thirty-eight fpecies in Willdenow ; 

 none Britiih. 



S. infmum. Pricklv Mad-apples. Linn. Mant. 46. 

 Willd. n, 45. (S. pomiferum, magno fruftu tx albo ct 



atropurpureo nitente, foliis et calyce fpinofis ; Pluk. Phyt. 

 t. 226. f. 3. S. pomiferum, fruftu nigro fpinofo ; Morif. 

 feft. 13. t. 2. f. 2.) — Stem prickly, herbaceous. Leaves 

 ovate, finuated, denfely downy. Flower-ftalks deflexed, 

 fwelhng. Calyx armed with ftrong prickles. Fruit ob- 

 long, fmooth, furrowed. — Native of tropical climates. 

 Linnaeus originally confounded this plant with 5 Melongena^ 

 of which it may, after all, be only a thorny variety. Tron- 

 gum hortenfe, Rumph. Amboin. v. 5. 238. t. 85, feems 

 rather to belong to the Melongena. 



S. mammofum. Nipple Nightlhide or Bachelor's Pear. 

 Linn. Sp. PI. 267. Willd.' n. 51. Ait. n. 24. Purfli 

 n. 3. (S. barbadenfe fpinofum, foliis villcfis, fruftu aureo 

 rotundiore, pyri parvi inverfi forma et magnitudine ; Pluk. 

 Phyt. t. 226. f. I. Pomum SodomsE ; Merian. Surin. 27. 

 t. 27.) — Stem hair^', prickly, herbaceous. Leaves heart- 

 fhaped, lobed and angular ; prickly and hairy on both fides. 

 Fruit pointed. — Native of the Weft Indies. An annual 

 ftove-plant, which may perhaps have been frequently intro- 

 duced, and foon again loft. The whole of the herbage is 

 very villous, the footflalks, and ribs of the leaves, more 

 efpecially, armed with formidable ftraight yellow thorns. 

 Flowers pals blue, in fmall lateral clutters, with a hairy 

 calyx, and large anthers. Fruit folitary, yellow, about two 

 inches long, ovate with a point. Merian fays it is very 

 poifonous to men and bealls. Mr. Purlh found this fpecies 

 on the fea-coafts of Virginia and Carolina, its feeds, as we 

 (hould fuppofe, having floated thither. 



S. virginianum. Virginian Nightfliade. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 267. Willd. n. 55. Ait. n. 25. Purfti n. 4. (S. ame- 

 ricanum laciniatum fpinofiilimum ; Dill. Elth. 360. t. 267. 

 S. annuum nigricans virginianum fpinofiffimum late fe fpar- 

 gens, flore casruleo, glabrum ; Pluk. Phyt. t. 62. f. 3.) — 

 Leaves pinnatifid, with finuated obtufe fegments, cihated, 

 very prickly on both fides, as well as the herbaceous up- 

 right ftem, the ftalks, and the calyx. Fruit globofe. — 

 On road-fides, and in fandy fields, from Virginia to Caro- 

 lina, flowering in .July. Purfli. A tender biennial with 

 us. The root is fibrous. Stem branched, ereft, fpreading. 

 Leaves three or four inches long, deeply finuated and cut, 

 minutely fringed, but otherwife the whole plant is deltitutc 

 of pubefcencc, though every where copioufly armed with 

 awl-fliaped pale-ycUowifti thorns, fometimes near an inch 

 long. Flowers lateral, diftant from the leaves, fimply 

 racemofe, blue. Fruit fmall, globofe, variegated with 

 green and white. 



S. Jacquini. Jacquin's Nightfliade. Willd. n. 56. 

 Ait. n. 26. (S. virginianum; Jacq. Coll. v. 2. 2S5. Ic. 

 Rar. t. 332.) — Leaves pinnatifid, with finuated obtufe feg- 

 ments, fmooth, very prickly on both fides, as well as the 

 decumbent, fpreading, herbaceous ftem, the ftalks, and the 

 calyx. Fruit globofe. — Native of the Eaft Indies, ifle de 

 Bourbon, &c. Sent to Ktw by fir Jofeph Banks about 

 1804. A tender annual, flowering in September and Oc- 

 tober. Very nearly akin to the laft, but the decumbent 

 Jlem, and fmooth edges of the leaves, are, in confidcration 

 of its oriental origin, luppofed to indicate a ipecific dif- 

 ference. Some ftarry hairs occur on the young leaves, and 

 extremities of the branches. The fruit h the fize of a goofe- 

 beri y, variegated with light and dark green. .S. xanlho- 

 carpum-: Sclirad. Sert. llannov. t. 2, is too nearly related 

 to tliis to be confidered as more th:in a variety. 



S. fodomcum. Dark-thoriicd Nighllhadi-. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 268. Willd. n. (^l. Ait. n.'29. Sm. Fl. Grxc. 

 Sibth. t. 235, uiipubhfhed. (8. pomiterum tnitefcens 

 afncanum fpinofum r.igricaiia, borragiiiis flore, foliis pro- 

 fundc laciniatis } Herm. Lugd. Bat. 573. t. 575. Tourn. 



liill 



