438 FLORA OF TEXAS. 



many-seeded. — Herbs or shrills, with acrid juice, solitary 

 Jloivers, and red berries. 



C. FRUTESCENS, L. Shnibby, smooth; stem branching; 

 leaves oblong-ovate, obtuse, entire, acute or rounded at the 

 base, petioled, often by pairs; calyx obscurely 5-toothed, 

 long-peduncled, erect; berry oblong, shorter than the pe- 

 duncle. Stem l°-3° high ; leaves 6' long; berry 4-8' long. 

 (Bird Pepper, or Mexican Pepper.) 



PHYSALIS, L. Ground-cheery. 



Calyx 5-toothed, inflated in fruit, and inclosing the juicy 

 berry; corolla short-bell-shaped, plaited, 5-lobed or 5-an- 

 gled; stamens 5, inserted on the tube of the corolla; 

 anthers separate, opening lengthwise; stigma obtuse; seeds 

 flat, kidney-shaped. — Difi'usely branching herbs, with alter- 

 nate petioled leaves, which are often by pairs, and solitary 

 nodding flowers in their axils, or in the forks of the 

 branches. 



* Perennial; peduncles commonly longer than the petiole; corolla 8"-10" in diam- 

 eter, spotted in the throat with brown oi' purple. 



P. viscosA, L. Pubescent or hairy ; root slender, elon- 

 gated; stems erect, at length difi'usely branched, angled ; 

 leaves ovate, entire or angularly toothed, acute or obtuse, 

 rounded or cordate at the base; calyx hairy, with trian- 

 gular-ovate lobes ; corolla pubescent, yellow, with 5 large 

 brown spots in the throat ; style and filaments purple ; 

 anthers yellow ; fruiting calyx oblong-ovate, sharply 5-an- 

 gled, concave or truncate at the base ; berry globose, viscid. 

 (P. heterophylla, Nees; P. Pennsj^lvanica, L.) Dry light 

 or sandy soil. Jul3^-October. Stems ^°-2° high, some- 

 times purple; the pubescence often viscid, jointed, or 

 rough ; leaves l'-2' long, the uppermost rarely acute and 

 unequal at the base; corolla obscurely lobed; fruiting 

 calyx I'-IJ' long. 



