269 
SOLANUM HERBERTIANUM. 
(mr. Herbert's nightshade.) 
class. oiider. 
PENTANDRIA. MONOGYNIA. 
NATURAL ORDER. 
SOLANACEiE. 
Generic Character. — See vol. iii. p. 1. 
Specific Character. — Plant shrubby, evergreen, growing from two to three feet in height, and upwards. 
Stem nearly erect, much branched, covered with a ferruginous pubescence. Leaves petiolate, ovately 
oblong, bluntish, deep green above, clothed with brownish pubescence beneath, slightly undulated at 
the mai'gins. Calyx five-parted ; segments linear, green, alternate with the divisions of the corolla. 
Flowers large, terminal, deep purple, with a yellow streak down the centre of each division. Corolla 
rotate, monopetalous, deeply five-lobed ; lobes broad at the base, tapering gradually to an obtuse 
extremity, slightly recurved. Stamens collected round the mouth of the corolla. Style as long as 
the segments of the corolla, reclining on them, and curving upwards, towards its extremity. 
One of the most ornamental, and consequently the most valuable, species of 
the genus. Blue is evidently the predominant colour of Solanums ; but there are 
few species in which it assumes such an intensity and brilliancy as the one now 
for the first time figured. Rarely, also, do their flowers attain so large a size as 
those of our present plant; and these circumstances combined, impress it with a 
superior character, and render it a desirable acquisition to any collection. 
While excessive luxuriance, very frequently amounting to coarseness, characterises 
most of its allies, this beautiful species is remarkable for its dwarf and peculiarly 
neat habits. Seldom growing more than two or three feet high, being moreover of 
a shrubby nature, and flowering most abundantly when its stems are not more than 
six or nine inches in length, it is admirably adapted for placing on a stage in a 
conspicuous situation. It must not however be too much elevated, as its flowers 
require to be examined from above, in order to obtain a full perception of their 
beauty; the upper surface of the leaves is likewise of the most lively and 
pleasing colour, since they are covered beneath with a ferruginous pubescence. 
These circumstances should not be forgotten in choosing for it a position in the 
plant-house. 
