uo 
CLASS PENTANDKIA. 
injure the sicldes of the reapers when it grows in the field 
with the grain. The name, Lithospermum, is from the Greek 
litTios^ a stone, and spei^ma^ a seed, in allusion to the hardness 
of the seed. The Borago is an exotic with a wheel-shaped 
corolla of a beautiful blue color, having its throat closed with 
five small protuberances ; stamens attached to the tube of the 
corolla. By taking oif the corolla carefully, may be seen the 
little scales which choke up the throat, and the manner in 
which the five stamens adhere to the corolla. 
185. We next meet with a family of plants named by Lin- 
nseus LuridcBy from their pale or lurid color. Jussieu called 
them the Solanem^ considering the potato, Solanum^ the type of 
the order. The general characters of these plants are a mono- 
petalous corolla, of a lurid or pale appearance ; five stamens 
attached to the base of the corolla, and alternating with its 
divisions ; leaves alternate. The common potato (Solanum 
tuberosum) has conspicuous flowers ; the anthers are oblong, 
thick, partly united at the top, and open at the summit by two 
pores. The potato was not known in Europe until after the dis- 
covery of America. In the year 1597 Sir Walter Raleigh, on 
his return from this country, distributed a few potatoes in Ire- 
land, where they became numerous, and the cultivation of them 
soon extended into England. The tubers of the potato are 
now considered as subterranean stems, the true roots, by mean? 
of which the plant receives nourishment, being fibrous. The 
green balls upon the stalks of this plant are the pericarps, 
and contain the seed. The little knobs called eyes, which 
appear upon the tubers of the potato, are germs or buds, each 
of which is capable of producing a plant."^ The Tomato and 
the Egg-plant belong to the genus Solcmum, In the same 
natural order is the Datura stramonium^ a large, ill-look- 
ing, nauseous-scented weed ; with a funnel-form, plaited co- 
rolla, either white or purple, with broad, dark-green leaves ; 
and an ovate, thorny pericarp, often called Thorn-apple. It 
continues to blossom during the summer; is found by the 
sides of roads, around old buildings, and in waste grounds. 
Yet even this disagreeable plant has its uses; on account 
of its narcotic, and other active properties, it is highly valu- 
able in medicine. In the group of plants we are now consid- 
ering is the tobacco (ITicotiana tdbaeum)^ a native of America, 
imported into Europe about the middle of the 16th century. 
It was presented to Catherine de Medicis, Queen of France, as 
* This is more properly a continuation of the plant, than a reproduction ; — it is found that the 
vegetable tlius continued appears, in process of time, to degenerate, and it is necessary to renew th» 
race by reproducing it from seed. 
185. Lur.dap or Solaae«— Describe the potato— What other plants are in .'he genus Solannm ?- 
Datura — Tobacco. 
