THE NIGHTSHADE FAMILY. 



801 



Yipers Biigloss {Echium vulgare). A native of this 

 country, generally growing on rocky cliffs near the sea. It 

 is very showy, having spikes of purple red flowers. E. fastu- 

 osum, E. giganteum,, and E. candicans, strong growing 

 shrubby sp(;cies, natives of Madeira and the Canaries, with 

 E. fruticosum and others, natives of the Cape of Good Hope, 

 have been long cultivated in greenhouses. The well known 

 Forget-me-not {Myosotis palustris) belongs to this family. 



In alliance with Boraginacece is Hydrophyllacece^ consist- 

 ing of nearly 100 species, chiefly natives of temperate and 

 tropical America. The principal part are herbaceous plants, 

 and are represented in gardens by the genera Hydrophyllum^ 

 Phacelia, Eutoca, and the pretty annual Nemophila insignis. 

 Several are shrubby, and even spiny, as Hydrolea zeylanica^ 

 a pretty blue-flowered shrub. Wigandia caraccasana, a 

 large-leaved strong-growing plant, native of Caraccas, at- 

 taining the height of 3 or 4 feet, has lately become an orna- 

 mental garden plant. 



The Nightshade Family. 



(SOLANACE^.) 



Small trees, erect or trailing shrubs, frutlets, or perennial 

 or annual shrubs. Leaves soft, alternate, simple, entire, or 

 lobed, some winged. Flowers axillary, solitary, or in ter- 

 minal cymes or racemes. Corolla tubular or spreading. 

 Fruit a 2-valved or many-celled capsule, or a pulpy berry 

 often included within a persistent calyx. 



This extensive family consists of above 900 species, distri- 

 buted throughout all climates of both hemispheres, Solanum 

 nigrum presenting itself near the arctic circle, as well as in 

 high southern latitudes. The greater number are tropical, 

 of which about one half belong to the genus Solanum. 

 Although some in a prepared state are useful and wholesome, 

 the whole family is more or less poisonous, many in the highest 

 degree, as the Deadly nightshade. 



Potato {Solanum tuberosum). This well-known esculent is 



