102 



SOLANACEiE. 



Hyoscytamus. 



3. HYOSCYAMUS. Town. ; Endl. gen. 3847. henbane. 



[ From hys, hyos, a hog, and lyamos, a bean ; because hogs are said to feed on the fruit, which lias some resemblance to 



a bean.] 



Calyx tubular, 5-cleft. Corolla funnelform, oblique ; the border 5-lobed. Stamens declined. 

 Capsule usually covered with the persistent calyx, opening by a lid. — Herbs of a rank 

 smell and often viscid, with toothed or angular leaves. Flowers axillary and solitary, or in 

 leafy spikes. 



1. Hyoscyamus niger, Linn. Common Henbane. 



Leaves clasping, sinuate and angularly toothed ; flowers sessile ; corolla reticulate. — Linn, 

 sp. 1. p. 179 ; Engl, hot. t. 591 ; Pursh, fl. I. p. 144 ; Bigel. med. hot. t. 17, and fl. Bost. 

 p. 81 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 224 ; Bed, hot. p. 259. 



Annual or biennial. Whole plant viscid and hairy, of a glaucous hue and fetid. Stem 

 1-2 feet high, rigid. Lower leaves large, spreading on the ground, oblong, acute, with large 

 angular teeth ; upper ones mostly entire. Flowers in terminal recurved leafy spikes. Calyx 

 reticulate ; the segments short and acute, at length prickly. Corolla of a dull yellowish 

 color, reticulated with purple veins. Capsule covered with the persistent calyx, opening by 

 a terminal lid which separates all round. 



Road-sides, and among rubbish : Westchester county, &c. Introduced from Europe. June 

 - July. A powerful narcotic ; the poisonous effects depending on an active principle called 

 hyoscyamine. Its operation is narcotic, anodyne and antispasmodic. An extract of the plant, 

 and the dried leaves, are kept in the shops. 



4. NICANDRA. Adans. ; Endl. gen. 3850. nicandra. 



[ Named in honor of Nicander, a Greek physician who lived about a century and a half before Christ.] 



Calyx 5-parted, prismatic ; the lobes sagittate. Corolla campanulate ; the limb plaited and 

 nearly entire. Stamens connivent : anthers opening longitudinally. Berry dry, covered by 

 the calyx, 3 - 4-celled. — An annual herb, with sinuate angular leaves, and single-flowered 

 peduncles which are axillary and in the forks of the stem. 



J. Nicandra physaloides, Gcert. Nicandra. 



Gcert. de fruct. 2. p. 237. t. 131 ; Pers. syn. 1. p. 219 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 158 ; Nutt. 

 gen. 1. p. 130; Beck, hot. p. 258. Atropa physaloides, Linn.; "Jacq. obs. 4. t. 98." 



Stem 2-3 feet high, much branched, smooth. Leaves 2-4 inches long, ovate, petiolate, 

 more or less deeply toothed and sinuate. Flowers on short peduncles, which mostly arise 

 from the forks of the stem. Calyx somewhat reticulate. Corolla about an inch in diameter, 

 pale blue ; the border spreading. Fruit a kind of dry berry. 



