58 WILD FLOWERS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 
A variety — Solanum marinum. Bab. — with the leaves and young stems fleshy, usually clothed 
with curved-in hairs, and with the stem prostrate and profusely branched, occurs on shingly sea- 
shores in the south of England and the west of Ireland. 
Common. In hedges and moist shady places, generally distributed over England and Ireland, more 
rare in Scotland. June — August. Perennial. 
2. Black Nightshade. (Solanum nigrum. Linn.) — A species differing from the last 
in having smaller, white flowers, inch across, in clusters (cymes), with the stalks so close 
together as to appear to start all from the same point (umbels) ; the berries round, usually black, 
but rarely yellow or red ; the stems erect, about i foot high, with many spreading branches ; the 
leaves egg-shaped (ovate), stalked, wavy, bluntly toothed ; and the root not creeping. 
Fairly common. Cultivated ground, waste places, &c. ; common in the south of England, less 
so in the north, and local in Scotland and Ireland. July — October. Perennial. 
II. DEADLY NIGHTSHADE. (AT'ROPA. Linn.) — A genus consisting of the one following 
species, according to some botanists, though others include several foreign herbs and shrubs. 
Deadly Nightshade. (At'ropa Belladon'na. Linn.) — The flowers, which are remarkable, 
are x inch long, bell-shaped, of a lurid purple tinged with green, stalked, drooping, and solitary in 
the axils of the leaves and the forks of the branches. Calyx of 5 sepals, united at the base, 
broadly bell-shaped, remaining with the fruit, free from and inserted below the seedcase (inferior) ; 
corolla of 5 petals, united into a long bell-shaped tube and separating into 5 short, broad, slightly 
unequal spreading lobes, veined, inserted below the seedcase (hypogynous) ; stamens 5, the 
filaments long, the anthers whitish and opening lengthwise by slits, not quite as long as the corolla, 
inserted on the base of the corolla-tube (epi-petalous) ; the style very long and protruding ; the 
fruit a large roundish, 2-celled, purplish-black berry, highly poisonous ; the stems erect, 2-4 feet 
high, thick, much branched ; the leaves large, broadly egg-shaped (ovate), stalked, those of the 
upper branches with a small leaf, looking almost like a bract, rising from the same point as the 
large leaf, so that the leaves are placed in unequal pairs alternately from opposite sides of the 
stem ; and the root is thick and fleshy, and gives off numerous thick rootlets (stolons). This is 
the most dangerous plant we have native to our isles. It is a virulent poison and many deaths 
have followed on eating the berries, but it must be noted that every part of the plant is poisonous. 
It is useful in medicine, and is much used by oculists, as it possesses the power of contracting the 
iris and dilating the pupil of the eye. [. Plate 2 1 . 
Rare. In waste places and especially among old ruins in chalk and limestone districts. June — 
August. Perennial. 
III. TEA-PLANT. (LYCIUM. Linn.) — Flowers rather small, stalked, in clusters in the axils of 
the leaves. Calyx of 2-5 sepals, bell-shaped, remaining with and enclosing the base of the fruit, 
free from and inserted below the seedcase (inferior) ; corolla of 5 petals, united into a long tube 
and separating into a 5-lobed spreading limb, funnel-shaped or salver-shaped, inserted below the 
seedcase (hypogynous) ; stamens 5, with long filaments, and anthers opening lengthwise by slits, 
protruding or included, inserted in the middle or near the base of the corolla-tube (epi-petalous) ; 
carpels 2, with a single style and stigma ; fruit a 2-celled berry, with several seeds. Shrubs, often 
spiny, with alternate undivided entire leaves. 
*Duke of Argyll's Tea-tree. (Lycium chinense. Miller.)— As just described. The 
only species found in the British Isles, but not a native. The flowers are £ inch across, purple, 
with a pale green throat which is streaked with darker purple ; the stamens with fawn-coloured 
anthers, protruding, inserted in the upper part of the corolla-tube ; the berry long, bright red, 
