Datura.] LIV. SOLANACEJE. 317 



Corolla rotate. Anthers close together, in a projecting cone, 



opening by pores at the top 3. Sola num. 



Corolla campanulate. Anthers distinct, opening by longitu- 

 dinal slits 4. Atropa. 



Several Solanacece belonging to exotic genera are cultivated for use 

 or ornament, among which may be mentioned Lycium barbarum, often 

 called Tea-plant, a straggling or climbing shrub, with small lilac flowers, 

 often to be seen in cottage gardens, and established in hedges in some 

 of the eastern counties ; the Tobacco (Nicotiana), and the closely allied 

 ornamental genera Petunia and Nierembergia, the Mandrake (Man- 

 dragora), the Winter-cherry (Physalis), the Cayenne Pepper (Capsicum), as 

 well as the Oestrums and Fabianas and even Nolanas of our gardens, 

 which, although somewhat anomalous, belong to Solanacece, 



I. DATURA. DATURA. 



Coarse annuals or soft-wooded shrubs. Corolla long, funnel-shaped 

 and regular. Capsule large, opening in 4 valves, and partially divided 

 into 4" cells. 



A small genus, spreading over the warmer regions of the globe. The 

 large shrubby Daturas, often distinguished as Brugmansias on account 

 of their smooth, not prickly capsules, are from South America. 



1. D. Stramonium, Linn. (fig. 713). Thorn-apple. — A coarse, 

 glabrous or slightly downy annual, 1 to 2 feet high, with spreading, 

 forked branches. Leaves rather large, ovate, with irregular, angular 

 or pointed teeth or lobes. Flowers solitary, on short peduncles, in the 

 forks or at the ends of the branches. Calyx loosely tubular, about 1J 

 inches long, and falls off after flowering, leaving a small rim under the 

 capsule. Corolla above 3 inches long, bordered with 5 narrow, distant 

 teeth, usually white, but occasionally (especially in hot countries) 

 purple. Capsule nearly globular, very prickly, with numerous wrinkled 

 seeds. 



A common roadside weed, in southern Europe and all over the 

 warmer parts of the globe, extending northward into southern Sweden. 

 Appears not unfrequently in southern England, but can scarcely be 

 considered as naturalised. Fl, summer and autumn. 



II. HYOSCYAMUS. HENBANE. 



Coarse, usually hairy annuals or biennials. Corolla obliquely cam- 

 panulate or shortly funnel-shaped, 5-lobed. Capsule enclosed in the 

 enlarged calyx, bursting when ripe round a circular raised ring immedi- 

 ately below the hardened top. 



A Mediterranean genus, extending from the Canary Islands to central 

 Asia. 



1. H. niger, Linn. (fig. 714). Common H. — A coarse, erect, branching 

 annual, 1 to 2 feet high, more or less hairy and viscid, with a nauseous 

 smell. Leaves rather large, sessile; the upper ones clasping- the stem, 

 ovate, and irregularly pinnatifid. Flowers very shortly stalked ; the 

 lower ones in the forks of the branches ; the upper ones sessile, in 1- 

 sided leafy spikes, rolled back at the top before flowering. Calyx short 

 when in flower, but persists round the fruit, and then an inch long, 



