MANUAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 419 



ledons leafy. Natives chiefly of Southern 

 Africa, but occur also in Tropical India, Aus- 

 tralia, Equinoctial and North America, and 

 in Sicily. Among the species, is the Cow 

 Plant (Gymnema lactiferwm), the juice of 

 which is employed as drink in Ceylon, Some 

 are supposed to yield a kind of Caoutchouc. 



6. Family. — Deadly - Nightshades (Atropaceae). 



Herbs or shrubs ; leaves alternate ; calyx 

 tubular, 5-divided, persistent ; corolla tubu- 

 lar, 5-lobed ; aestivation imbricate or plicate ; 

 stamens five, alternate with lobes of corolla ; 

 anthers bilobed, bursting longitudinally at 

 the margin ; ovary 2-celled ; ovules usually 

 ascending ; style simple ; stigma bilobed ; 

 fruit baccate or capsular; seeds reniform or 

 compressed ; embryo straight or curved 

 Distribution extended. Contain Tobacco, 

 Thorn-apple, Henbane, Deadly-Nightshade, 

 Mandrake, &c. Most members of this family 

 are more or less poisonous. 



7. Family. — Nightshades (Solanaceae). Herbs or 



shrubs ; leaves alternate ; calyx and corolla 

 5- rarely 4 -partite ; aestivation valvate ; 

 stamens equal to, and alternate with, lobes of 

 corolla; anthers burst by longitudinal slits 

 or pores ; ovary generally 2-celled ; style 

 simple ; stigma bilobed or clavate, often hol- 

 low ; fruit capsular or baccate ; embryo 

 terete. Distribution general. Among the 

 species are the Potato, Bitter-sweet, Tomato, 



