NAT. ORDER. 
Solanece. 
BELLADONNA PURPUREUS. BELLADONNA LILY. 
Class VI. Hexandria. Order I. Monogynia. 
Gen. Char. Leaves, hieraal, arcuate. Scape, autumnal, before the 
leaves. Umbel, many-flowered, pedunculated, divaricate. 
Germen, triangularly obovate. Tube, narrow, funnel-shaped. 
Anthers, incumbent. 
Spe. Char. Leaves, lorate-linear, channelled. Perianth, funnel- 
shaped. Segments, acuminate, recurvedly spreading. 
This species of the Belladonna, has a thick, whitish root, 
which is perennial, and sends forth strong branched, purple-colored 
stems, from four to six feet in height ; the leaves are of unequal 
size, entire, oval, pointed, and stand in pairs, upon short footstalks ; 
the flowers are of a light pink color, but striped with a purple 
red, large, pendent, bell-shaped, furrowed, and the limb cut into 
five segments. The whole plant is covered with very fine hairs or 
down. The Jlowers appear in June or July ; but the seeds are 
not ripe till September, when they acquire a shining black color. 
It grows in shady and stony waste grounds, but is not very com- 
mon in any country except China. A few plants have been sent 
to this country, but will not flower unless kept in the hot-houses, 
and with great care. 
Whether this plant is the " king of poisons," as mentioned by 
Dioscorides, or not, botanists have not yet ascertained ; but it has 
certainly been long known by the Chinese, as a strong poison, of 
the narcotic kind ; and the berries, though less powerful than the 
Vol. Hi.— 37 
