SOLANUM. 



Corolla irregular. Lower anther greatly elongated — 

 Brought by Mr. Maflbn, from the Canary iflands, in 1779. 

 A greenhoul'e fhrub, flowering in March and April. The 

 upright branching _^fOT is armed with abundance of {hort, 

 ftraight, conical, brov/nilh prickles. Leaves the Ihape and 

 Cze of thofe of the Catalpa; green, befprinkled with mi- 

 nute ftarry hairs, above ; denfely downy, and hoary, be- 

 neath. Floiuers about the fize of the lait, and in like man- 

 ner lateral and cymofe, often, if not always, four-cleft and 

 tetrandrous, their Jialks, unarmed calyx, and back of the 

 purple irregular corolla, covered with Itarry down. Lower- 

 molt anther declining, ending in a long recurved beak, as in 

 5. cornutam and heterandrum, already defcribed, upon which 

 charafter principally Ventenat founds his genus oi NySlerium, 

 fo called from vi/tli^i;, a bat. Such a genus would diifer 

 from Solanum nearly as Celfia does from Verbafcum, and if 

 feveral more fpecies (hould occur, it might, for convenience 

 at leaft, be adopted. 



S. tomentofum. Woolly Nightfhade. Linn. Sp. PI. 269. 

 Willd. n. 70. Ait. n. 34. Thunb. Prodr. 36. (S. coc- 

 cineura ; Jacq. Mifc. v. 2. 329. Ic. Rar. t. 43. S. fpi- 

 nofum, maxime tomentofum; Bocc. Sic. 8. t. 5. f. i.) — 

 Stem ftirubby, with a few briftly prickles. Leaves heart- 

 fhaped, unarmed, wavy, clothed with denfe ftarry wool on 

 both fides. — Native of the Cape of Good Hope ; introduced 

 into the European greenhoufes about the middle of the 

 17th century. A pretty fpecies, with a zig-zag _/?ifm of no 

 great elevation, its branches and whole herbage remarkably 

 woolly and white, with a few fcattered, minute, needle-like 

 prickles, efpecially on ihc jlo-wer-ftalks. The pubefcence 

 of the young budding leaves is ufually tinged with violet. 

 Calyx bell-(haped, cloven half way down, unarmed. Corolla 

 purple or lilac, woolly at the outfide. Fruit globofe, of a 

 beautiful fcarlet, varying in fize from that of a pea to a 

 fmall goofeberry. 



S. giganteum. Tall Snowy-leaved Nightfhade. Jacq. 

 Coll. V.' 4. 125. Ic. Rar. t. 328. Willd n. 74. Ait. 

 n. 36. (S. niveum ; Thunb. Prodr. 36. Vahl. Symb. 

 V. 2. 41.) — Stem fiirubby, armed with downy conical 

 prickles. Leaves elliptic-lanceolate, acute, unarmed ; 

 imooth above; fnow-white and downy beneath. Clufters 

 terminal, forked, cymofe. Fruit ereft. — Native of the 

 Cape of Good Hope. Introduced by Mr. Maflon, in 

 1792. A greenhoufe (hrub, flowering in .lune and July, 

 of a tall and ftriking habit, like that of fome Echlum or 

 Tournefortla. The branches are thick and round. PrlciLs 

 copious, (hort. Leaves numerous about the tops of the 

 brandies, from three to five inches long, llalked, recurved ; 

 dark green above ; peculiarly white and foft beneath. 

 Flowers numerous, purple, rather fmall, drooping, on co- 

 rymbofe ilalks, which become entirely erefl as the fruit 

 advances. 



S. rublglnofum. Rufty Nightfhade. — Stem fhrubby, 

 armi;d, like the footftalks and ribs of the leaven, with 

 hooked prickles. Leaves elliptical, acute ; nearly naked 

 above ; downy and rufty beneath. Clufters terminal, 



forked, cymofe. Corolla downy Gathered in Cayenne 



by Mr. Von Rohr, who fent it to fir Jofeph Banks as the 

 S. rublglnofum of Richard. But we find no fuch name in 

 the catalogue of Cayenne plants by this botanifl, in the 

 Aftesdela Soc. d'Hill. Nat. de P.iris, v. i. 105. Aublet 

 appears by his herbarium to have lalled this fpecies rham- 

 tioldes, but it does not occur in his book. The dried fpeei- 

 mcn is diftinguifhed by a peculiarly ftriking rufly tint, 

 which may polTibly not be fo (Irong in the living plant. 

 The branches are round, covered with brown, minutely 

 itarry, clofe down, and armed with numerous, fmall, 



fmooth, very fliarp, ftrongly hooked prickle*. Footfialis 

 an inch long, angular, fimilarly clothed and armed. Leaver 

 three or four inches in length, and an inch and a half in 

 breadth, entire, with one rib, prickly in the lower part, 

 and many interbranching veins ; their upper furface green, 

 (hining, fmooth and naked, except a few fcattered, rigid, 

 ftarry hairs, which caufe a roughnefs to the touch ; under 

 furface marked with prominent veins, and denfely covered 

 with clofe, fhining, rufty or whitifh, foft, ftarry down. 

 Injlorcfcence fimilar to the laft, to which this fine fpecies 

 feems moft akin, but X.\\e flalts, calyx, and under fide of 

 the corolla, are clothed with rufty ftarry pubefcence. The 

 branch is fubfequently contiiuied beyond \.\\e flowers. 



8. polyacanthos. Many-thorned Nightfhade. Lamarck 

 Tajil. Encycl. v. 2. 23. n. 2377. Diil. v. 4. 304 Willd. 

 n. 79. (S. ])aiviflorum; Cavan. Ic. v. 3. 19. t. 236. 

 Pfiytnbcra fiitefccns fpinofifTima, foliis anguftis et crifpis ; 

 Plum. Ic. 218. t. 224. f. I.) — Stem fhiubby, very prickly 

 as well as the foliage. Prickles long, ftraight, and flen- 

 der. Leaves linear-lanceolate, obtufe, flightly waved, 

 ne." ly feffil-. hairy. Stalks axillary, fingle-flowered. — 

 N.itivc of Hifpaniola, where our fpecimen was gathered by 

 T.' i.trry. The whole herbage is exceflively prickly, with 

 yellnw needle-like thorns, green, rough with ftarry hairs, 

 not hoary. Leaves copious, an inch and a half long, rather 

 convex, all fimple and undivided. Flowers very fmall, foli- 

 tary, drooying, white. Berry globofe, hardly bigger than 

 a mullard-feed. Calyx unarmed. 



5. igneum. Red-fpined Nightfhade. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 270. Willd. n. 80. Ait. n. 37. Jacq. Hort. Vind. 

 V. I. ^. t. 14. (S. fpiniferum frutefcens, fpinis igneis, 

 americanum ; Pluk. Phyt. t. 225. f. y) — Stem fhrubby, 

 prickly, as well as the footftalks and foliage. Prickles 

 fcattered, fomewhat conical, fliining. Leaves lanceolate, 

 entire, flightly downy on both fides. — Native of South 

 America. Cultivated for more than 100 years paft in the 

 ftoves of this country, where it is moft confpicuous for the 

 little fliining flame-coloured thorns, fometimes making the 

 fhrub look as if on fire. The branches are round. Leaves 

 ftalked, green, three or four inches long. Flowers white» 

 often only four-cleft, in (lender, fimple, lateral clufters. 



6. flelllgerum. Starry Nightfliade. Sm. Exot. Bot. 

 V. 2. 57. t. 88. Brown, n. 8. — Stem fhrubby, prickly, 

 with taper thorns. Leaves lanceolate, entire, unarmed ; 

 fmooth above ; denfely woolly and veiny beneath. Wool 

 ftarry. Corymbs lateral. — Native of New South Wales, 

 a', well as of the tropical part of New Holland, in which 

 laft-mcntioned country the prickles were ohferved by Mr. 

 Brown to be more pcrfeilly ftraight. This pretty fpecies 

 has not yet appeared in any garden. TUeJlem is biilhy, 

 from three to five feet high, with round, downy, leafy, 

 prickly br inches, but every other part is unarmed. Leaves 

 about three inches long, on woMy JIj lis ; their upper lidc 

 green, fliining, quite fmooth except ilie rib j under covered 

 with ilenfc- white wool, compofed of ftarry hairs, elevated 

 on ftalks. Flowers numerous, three-quarters of an inch 

 broad, hght blue, with orange anthers, each of whole ter- 

 minal pores is clofed by a fepnrate lid. Berries fcarlet, creft, 

 the fize of a currant, not longer than the lanceolate fcg- 

 ments of their un;;rmcd ca/y.\. 



S. Mtllerl. Miller's Niifhtfliadc. Jacq. Coll. v. 4. 

 209. Ic. Rar. t. 330. Willd. n. 81. Ait. Epit. 374. 

 (S. trilubatum, fionbus parvis albis ; Linn. Sp. PI. 270. 



S. Schiru fchuna; Mill. Diet. ed. 8, 



;2.) — Stem 



fhrubby, armed with hooked coraprcflcd prickles. Leaves 

 finuatcd or pinnatifid, obtufe, flightly j)rickly, fmooth. 

 Stalks moftly in pairs, finglc-flowercd. — Native of the Capo 



of 



