Atropa Belladonna. Dwale, ox - Deadly 
Nightshade. 
ATROPA Lin. Gen. PL Pentandria Monogynia. 
Cor. campanulata. Stam. diftantia. Paced globofa, 2-loculam. 
Raii Syn. Gen. 16. Her bee Bacciferce. 
ATROPA caoI«^herf>aceo, foliis ovatis integris. Lin, SyJl. Vegetab. cd. 14. p. 221. 
BELLADONNA caule herbaceo, brachiato, foliis ovato lanceolatis, integerrimis. Hallcr. hijl. 
BELLADONNA trichotoma. Scopoli FI. Carn. n. 255. 
SOLANUM melanocerafos. Bauh. pin. 16S. 
SOLANUM 
le nw» e fe G £'jT' lC r, 3 } 0 ', Parki y-. 340 - Raii Syn. p. 2S5. Deadly Nightlhade, 
Dwale. Huifon FI. Angi p. 93. Lightfoot FI. Scot. p. t 44 . Jacquin Fl. AuJtr. t. 309! 
RADIX perennis, crafla, albida, ramofa, repens. < 
CAULES plures, bafi digitum crafli, tripedales et < 
ultra, ere&i, herbacei, teretes, ramofi, in ! 
apricis fordide purpurei, pubefeentes. < 
FOLIA petiolata, ovata, acuta, integerrima, utrin- ] 
que Itevia, venofa, ad latera caulis ramo- J- 
rumque gemina et magnitudine inaequalia, | 
inter quae pedunculus uniflorus et faepius v 
folitarius egreditur. | 
PEDUNCULI teretes, vifeidi, ad flores paululum in- £ 
craflati. ^ 
FLORES cernui, inodori, fordide purpurei, fub- £ 
vifeidi, externe mitidi, venofi. t 
0 
CALYX: Per ianthium monophyllum, quinque- £ 
partitum, angulatum, laciniis ovato-acumi- £ 
natis, inaequalibus, vifeofis, fig. i. $ 
COROLLA monopetala, campanulata ; Tubus bre- 1 
viflimus, albus, fubpentagonus ; Limbus v 
ventricofus, ovatus, ore quinquefido, patulo, | 
laciniis fubaequalibus, fig. 2. 
STAMINA: Filamenta quinque, albida, quorum | 
duo jaaulo breviora, inferne paulo crafliora, 
pdofa, apice incurva, longitudine tubi ; 
Anthers magnae, didymae, lutefeentes, re- 
motK, Jig. 3. 
PISTILLUM: Germen femiovatum, utrinque ful- 
catum, ad bafin glandula lutefeente cin&um; 
Stylus filiformis, flaminibus longior, in- 
clinatus; Stigma capitatum, afliirgens, 
tranfverfo- oblongum, bilabiatum, viride. 
• .fis- 4 . * 
PERICARPIUM: Bacca atra, nitida, fubrotunda, | 
faporis dulcis, bilocularis, fig. 5, 6. § 
SEMINA plurima, fufea, irregularia, fig. 7. | 
<> 
Olf. Semina fufcefcunt priufquam Bacca nigrefeit. <> 
[ ROOT perennial, thick, whitifh, branched, and 
creeping. 
’ STALKS feveral, at bottom the thicknefs of one’s 
finger, three feet or more high, upright, her- 
baceous, round, branched, in expofed fitua- 
’ ^ tions of a dingy purple colour, downy. 
; LEAVES handing on footftalks, ovate, pointed, 
i perfectly entire, fmooth on both lides, veiny, 
growing in pairs (but unequal in fize) from 
the fides of the ftalks, from betwixt them 
rifes the flower-ftalk fupporting one flower, 
and ufually Angle. 
FLOWER-STALKS round, vifeid, thickened fome- 
what next the flowers. 
FLOWERS drooping, fcentlefs, of a dingy purple 
colour, fomewhat vifeid, externally gloffy 
and veiny. 
CALYX: a Perianthium of one leaf, deeply di- 
vided into five fegments, angular, the feg- 
ments ovato-acuminate, unequal, and vif- 
cous, jig. 1. 
COROLLA monopetalous, bell-fhaped ; Tube very 
fhort, white, flightly five-cornered; Limb 
bellying out, ovate, mouth fpreading, divided 
into five equal fegments, fig. 2. 
STAMINA : five Filaments, whitifh, two of which 
are a little fhorter than the reft, fomewhat 
thickefi towards the bafe, and hairy, bent 
down at top, the length of the tube ; An- 
thers large, double, yellowifh, and re- 
mote, fig. 3. 
PISTILLUM: Germen femiovate, with a groove 
on each fide, furrounded at bottom with a 
yellowifh gland ; Style thread-fhaped, 
longer than the flamina, inclined down- 
wards ; Stigma forming a little head, tranf- 
verfely oblong,- two-lip’d, of a green colour, 
fig- 4- 
SEED-VLSSEL : a black, gloffy, roundifh Berry, 
of a fweet tafte, with two cavities, fig. 5, 6. 
SEEDS numerous, brown, and irregular in fhape, 
fig- 7- 
Obf. The feeds turn brown before the Berry becomes 
black. 
The rage for building, joined to the numerous alterations perpetually making in the environs of London, 
have been the means of extirpating many plants which formerly grew plentifully around us. To this caufe’ 
we are to attribute the lofs of the prefent plant, which the late Sir William Watson and Mr. Stanesby 
Alchorne of the Tower, gentlemen eminent for their knowledge of Britifh plants, have often affured me 
grew, within their remembrance, in feveral places near town ; happily we are now under the neceflity of 
going much further into the country, if we wifh to fee it grow wild. We have frequently noticed it in 
many of the chalk-pits in Kent, and in both fbady and expofed fituations elfewhere ; in particular, we 
remember to have feen it growing in great abundance on Keep-Hill, near High Wycomb, Buckinghamfhire. 
Clofe by the fpot where we obferved it, there chanced to be a little boy; I afked him, if he knew the plant? 
He anfwered “ Yes ; it was naughty mans cherries .” I then inquired of him, if he had ever eaten any of the 
berries ? He faid he had, with feveral other children from an adjoining poor-houfe, and that it made them 
all very fick, but that none of them had died. 
Was not this plant ftudioufly deflroyed wherever it is found wild, it would be much more common than 
it is ; for there are few plants to which nature has been fo liberal in the means of increafe : it has a very 
large perennial root, which runs deep into the earth, multiplies greatly, and frequently creeps underground 
to a great diftance ; added to this, its berries are very numerous, and contain a prodigious quantity of feeds. 
Forbidding 
