SOLANUM. 
83 
§ 5. Tuberarium Dun. Herb, succulent rarely frutescent, un- 
armed. Pubescence subsimple. L. pinnatisect. Cymes 
many-fld. FI. middle-sized, v.-blue, w. or lilac. Berries 
globose, size of a cherry, fleshy or succulent yellowish 
gr. or y. 
ttt?- S. tuberosum L. Potatoes. Semilhas Mad. and Cape 
Verdes ; Batatas Lisbon ; Papas Canary Islands. 
Root-fibres tuberiferous ; st. herbaceous succulent branched 
leafy erect or ascending strongly angular and denticulately 
winged; 1. odd-pinnatisect, lfts. oblong-ovate entire veiny- 
rugose substrigulosely pubescent, dull or dark gr. unequal, 3-5 
pair larger petiolulate, intermediate minute sessile; cymes 
many-fld, on long erecto-patent supraaxillary ped. ; pedic. arti- 
culate above the middle, ebracteate, erect in fl., reflexed in fr. ; 
fl. erect umbellate rather large lilac-b. or w., cal.-lobes linear- 
lanceolate narrow subelongate ; berries drooping |-§ in. in 
diam. globose or rarely subobovoidal, smooth pale dull gr. or 
yellowish, sometimes subviolascent. — Linn. 8p. 265 ; Vill. 
Dauph. ii. 495 ; Lam. 111. no. 2328 ; Poir. in Lam. Diet. iv. 
285 ; Desf. i. 193 ; Brot. i. 182 ; Pers. i. 226 ; Dun. Hist. Sol. 
135 ; Ait. Hort. Kew. i. 399 ; Spr. i. 677 ; Koch 584 ; Dun. in 
DC. xiii. 1. 31; Gren. et Godr. ii. 544; Willk. et Lange ii. 
525. Battata virginiana &c. Ger. Herb. 781. Sol. tuberosum 
esculentum <fcc. Moris. Hist. 522, § 13. t. 1. f. 19. Herb. ann. 
Mad. reg. 1-3, cultiv. ccc ; PS. reg. 1, 2, cult, c ; GD. reg. 2, 
cult. rrr. Growing as a crop everywhere in Mad. from the 
sea-beach up nearly to the highest elevations (6000 ft.) and 
here and there coming up spontaneously as a straggler from 
cult. Not introduced into PS. (as I was assured in 1828 by 
the then governor of that island) earlier than 1820-1825. At 
all seasons, according to elevation or supply of water. — PI. with 
usually a peculiar heavy fetid smell. . St. thick juicy tender 
hollow angular 1-2 ft. high. L. large about 9 in. long, petio- 
late ; the terminal 1ft. 3-4 in. long and 2-3 broad, the lateral 
pairs narrower and gradually smaller downwards, all paler or 
sometimes albescent beneath. Ped. pedic. and cal. strigosely 
pilose. Fl. rather handsome and conspicuous. Berries when 
dead-ripe slightly fragrant like Lilac-ti. or Primroses, some- 
times in England used for pickling ; the vinegur neutralizing 
their deleterious narcotic property, if any. The tubers in Mad. 
are almost uniformly of excellent quality and form a large pro- 
portion of the food of the whole population. 
The so-called Potato-disease affected Mad. about 25 years 
ago simultaneously and to a like calamitous extent as it did 
England, Ireland, &c. ; causing great distress at first, but re- 
