NlCOTIANA. 



SOLANACE.E. 



101 



rounded. Corolla dull greenish yellow. Stamans included : filaments bearded at the base. 

 Capsule globose-ovoid. 



Old fields in the western parts of the State and on Long Island. A naturalized plant in 

 a few localities, and doubtless introduced by die Indians. It contains the same poisonous 

 principle (nicotine) that exists in common tobacco. 



2. DATURA. Linn. ; Endl. gen. 3845. THORN-APPLE. 



[According to Forskal, the name is an alteration of Tatorah, the Arabic appellation of the plant. In somo parts of the 



East Indies, it is called Ddbu.ro.'] 



Calyx tubular and usually prismatic, separating from the circular persistent base. Corolla 

 funnelform ; the limb large, spreading and plaited, 5-toothed. Capsule globose -ovoid, 

 usually prickly or muricate, 2-celled, 4-valved ; each cell (except the upper part) divided 

 into two by a false dissepiment extending from the placenta to the walls, so that the capsule 

 (except near the top) has four cells. — Mostly herbaceous plants (sometimes undershrubs 

 or even trees), with ovate often angularly toothed leaves, and large solitary flowers in the 

 forks of the stem. 



1. Datura Stramonium, Linn. Jamestown- or Jimson-weed. Stinhveed. 



Leaves ovate, smooth, angularly toothed; capsule spiny, erect. — Linn. sp. I. p. 179; 

 Engl. hot. t. 1288 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 141 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 275 ; Bigel. med. hot. t. 1, and fl. 

 Bost. p. 79 ; Tally in Sill. jour. 6. p. 258 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 232 ; Bed, hot. p. 259 ; Dar- 

 lingt. fl. Cest. p. 133. 



var. Tatula : stem and flowers purple. Torr. I. c. ; Beck, I. c. D. Tatula, Linn.; Willd. 

 sp. 1. p. 1008 ; Pursh, I. c. ; Ell. I. c. ; Tally, I. c. 



Annual. Stem 2-7 feet high, yellowish green (in the var. Tatula, dark purple), di- 

 chotomously branching, very smooth. Leaves 4-8 inches long and 3-5 inches wide, 

 alternate or sometimes in opposite pairs ; the base somewhat cordate. Flowers on pedicels 

 which are about half an inch long. Corolla about three inches long, white (bluish purple in 

 Tatula); the border with five acuminate teeth. Stamens included: anthers linear- oblong. 

 Style filiform : stigma 2-lobed. Capsule ovoid, an inch and a half long, armed with sharp 

 spreading spines. Seeds numerous, black, somewhat kidney-form and rugose. 



Waste grounds, road-sides, etc. ; common. Introduced. July - September. This well 

 known plant is said to be of Abyssinian origin, but is now spread over most parts of the world. 

 It is a powerful narcotic, and has long been employed medicinally. The seeds (and in a less 

 degree the leaves) contain an active principle called daturia. An extract is kept in the shops, 

 which is used in various spasmodic and painful diseases, but it should be administered with 

 cauticn. Children are frequently poisoned by eating the seeds. (See Wood <j- Sadie's U. S. 

 Dispens. p 638.) 



