74 
64. SOLAXACEiE. 
strong vertical clothed with fibres. St. firm hard stiff almost 
woody and round at the base, mostly very erect and straight or 
very stiffly fork-branched from the base or often only above the 
middle, forming a compact leafy oblong or subpyramidal bushy 
head ; the branches blackish purple, strongly angular, either 
naked and verruculate with the angles toothed, or furry- 
pubescent. L. mostly smooth or naked, 1-2 in. long, f-lj 
broad, on petioles ^-1 in. long, thin or membranous, lurid 
blackish gr. shortly ovate always pointed or acute, cuneately 
decurrent down the petiole, mostly toothed more or less. Ped. 
of cymes halfway at least between the axils, about half an inch 
long rounded ; pedic. 5 or 6 lines long more numerous than in 
either of the 2 following sp. abruptly deflexed in fr. Lobes of cal. 
short obtuse, spathulate in fl., broadly rounded in fr. Cor. w. 
tinged or streaked outside especially in bud with p. or lilac ; the 
eye or centre y. radiating up the stellately spreading or reflexed 
acute lobes. Stigma abruptly globoso-capitate gr. just over- 
topping the anther-cone. Anth. bright chrome-y. large oblong 
2-pored at top. Berries not showing the seeds within, uni- 
formly black, 2-3 lines in diam., reputed poisonous but not ill- 
flavoured, less acid than in S. villosum L. and without the pecu- 
liar rank raw taste of those of Lycopersicum vulgare. The juice 
is deep mulberry-col. Seeds flat minutely punctato-reticulate. 
Cal. in fr. a little enlarged, lobes blunt fleshy sometimes re- 
flexed. 
Nothing can be more variable than the 1. in amount of den- 
tation ; but the teeth are almost always acute more or less, and 
the 1. cannot properly be described as sinuato-dentate. 
The bruised or pounded fresh 1. are a favourite rustic remedy 
as a cataplasm for boils or tumours. 
S. nigrum EB. t. 566 represents a luxuriantly succulent 
spreading and widely branched state of the pi., with thick juicy 
strongly winged st. or branches, shortly stalked entire repandly 
waved subcordate 1. and larger berries, occurring in Mad. occa- 
sionally in moist or shady spots. 
2. S. patens Lowe. 
Inodorous naked nearly altogether smooth or glabrescent 
shining bright gr. diffusely but stiffly spreading (not erect or 
bushy) ann. suffrutescent ; branches forked subelongate remote 
stout stiff hard or almost woody, horizontally straggling or 
divaricately spreading, light gr., straw-col. or pale brown down- 
wards, smooth and naked or glabrescent, 2-edged, denticulately 
winged; 1. shining glabrescent nearly or quite smooth ovate- or 
elliptic-oblong acute or acuminate, wedge-shaped more or less 
