1084 
LXXXVI. SOLANACEiE. 
[ Solatium. 
16. S. defensum (armed with prickles), F. v. M. Fragm. v. lbB ; Benth. FI. 
Austr. iv. 451. The single specimen described is an erect nearly simple shoot 
from a woody stock (or from the base of a shrub that has been cut down), stout 
and rigid, above Hft. high, scabrous with scattered stellate hairs. Prickles 
straight, rather numerous on the stem and leaves, none on the calyxes. Leaves 
very shortly petiolate, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, pinnatifid with short obtuse 
lobes or some sinuate only, 3 to 5in. long, green on both sides, glabrous above, 
with a few small scattered stellate hairs underneath. Flowers blue, rather smail, 
resembling those of S. stelligeruin, in loose lateral racemes, the pedicels rather 
long even when in flower. Calyx-lobes acuminate, split almost to the base, but 
not exceeding 2 lines with the fruit far advanced. Corolla about Ain. diameter, 
deeply lobed. Anthers tapering upwards. Berry small, globular, but not quite 
ripe in the specimen. 
Hab.: Cape York, Dccmel (Herb. F. v. Mueller). 
Very remarkable in the foliage, but that may have been in some measure modified by the 
circumstances of growth of the only specimen known. — Benth. 
17. S. violaceum (flowers violet), II. Br. Prod. 445 ; Benth. FI. Austr. 
iv. 452. An erect shrub of several feet, the branches under side of the leaves 
and inflorescence covered with a stellate tomentum, sometimes dense and close, 
more rarely loose and fioccose. Prickles slender, straight, not numerous, on the 
branches and sometimes on the upper side of the leaves, none on the calyxes. 
Leaves petiolate, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, acute or rather obtuse, entire or 
rarely sinuate, often oblique at the base but not cordate, mostly 2 to 4in. long, 
glabrous on the upper surface or rarely scabrous with small stellate hairs. 
Flowers violet, large, in lateral racemes, the common peduncle at first very 
short, as well as the pedicels, but both sometimes much lengthened in fruit. 
Calyx above 2 and often 3 lines long, with acuminate teeth sometimes very short 
sometimes as long as the tube, somewhat enlarged and more deeply lobed when in 
fruit. Corolla f to above lin. diameter, the lobes short and very broad. Berry 
globular, larger than in S. stelligeruin— Dun. in DC. Prod. xiii. part i. 336; 
S. Brownii, Dun. Hist. Solan. 201. 
Hab.: Southern localities. 
The species sometimes resembles some forms of S. stelligeruin in foliage, but is at once 
distinguished by the large and differently shaped calyx and corolla. — Benth. 
18. S. amblymerum (parts of flower obtuse), Dun. in DC. Prod. xiii. • 
part i. 294 ; Benth. FI. Austr. iv. 452. An erect shrub of several feet, the branches 
under side of the leaves and inflorescence covered with a dense stellate tomentum 
usually close. Prickles slender, straight, on the branches and often on the 
leaves, none on the calyxes. Leaves shortly petiolate, narrow-lanceolate or 
almost linear, rather obtuse, entire or with short obtuse lobes near the base, 
2 to 4in. long, the upper surface glabrous and smooth or slightly scabrous with 
minute scattered stellate hairs. Flowers large like those of S. violaceum, in 
lateral racemes, usually more numerous than in that species, with the common 
peduncle more developed. Calyx about 3 lines long when in flower, with small 
acuminate teeth, enlarged and more lobed after flowering. Corolla fully fin. 
diameter with short broad lobes. Anthers tapering upwards. Ovary 2-celled. 
Berry globular. 
Hab.: Warwick, Bcckler, and other southern localities. 
I found the ovary 2-celled only in all the flowers I examined. They may possibly, however, 
prove to be a narrow leaved variety of S. violaceum. — Benth. 
19. S. tetrathecum (ovary 4-celled), F. v. M. Fragm. ii. 165 (partly); 
Benth. FI. Austr. iv. 453. A straggling shrub, the branches under side of the 
leaves and inflorescence covered with a close but dense and soft stellate 
tomentum. Prickles few on the branches, and in some specimens none. 
