BLACK-BERRIED NIGHTSHADE 



451 



the latter lasts for five years. The kind which is cultivated in 

 the Isle of France, under the name of Brede, does not differ, 

 botanically, from the common kind, but is more vigorous growing 

 and larger in all its parts. The seed is sown where the plants 

 are to stand, in April, in beds, or, preferably, in drills 12 to 14 in. 

 apart. After being thinned out, the plants require no further 

 attention, and are quite proof against dry weather. The leaves, 

 however, are more tender and more plentifully produced if the 

 plants are occasionally well watered when they appear to need it. 

 This plant is not as yet used in France as a vegetable, but in 

 warm countries the leaves are sometimes eaten as Spinach, and 

 apparently without any injurious result, although the plant belongs 

 to the dangerous family of the SolanacecB. 



MALABAR NIGHTSHADE (WHITE) 



Basella alba, L. Chenopodiacece. 



French, Baselle blanche. German, Indischer griiner Spinat. Flemish, Meier. Italian, 

 Basella. Spanish, Basela. 



Native of the East Indies. — Biennial, but cultivated as an 

 annual. — A plant with creeping stems from 4 to over 6 ft. long, 

 bearing alternate, oval-heart-shaped, slightly undulated, fleshy, 



green leaves. Flowers small, green or 

 red, in spikes ; seeds round, bearing 

 the remnants of the pistil and calyx, 

 which are persistent. Their germi- 

 nating power lasts for five years at 

 least. 



Culture. — The seed is sown in 

 a hot-bed in March. In the end of 

 May, or early in June, the seedlings 

 are planted out at the foot of a south 

 wall, and the plants will yield all 

 through the summer without any care 

 except occasional waterings. 



Uses. — The leaves are eaten like 

 Spinach, and are abundantly produced 

 all through the summer, growing in 

 greater profusion the warmer the 

 weather becomes. Care should be taken 

 not to strip a plant of all its leaves at 

 once, as this checks its growth. 

 Basella Cordifolia.— This is much like the Malabar variety, but 

 has larger, stouter, and darker green leaves; it is also more productive. 

 The culture and the uses are the same in both. An excellent 

 substitute for Spinach in hot climates during the dry summers. 



Malabar Nightshade (White) 

 (^^V natural size). 



