1092 LXXXYI. SOLANACE/E. [Physalis. 
Embryo circular or spiral round the tlesliy albumen. — Herbs either annual or 
with a perennial stock. Leaves often in pairs. Flowers solitary, usually small, 
on axillary or lateral pedicels. 
A genus rather numerous in America, of which two or three species, including the Australian 
one, extend over the warmer regions of the Old World. 
Stock perennial, the whole plant softly pubescent l.*P. peruviana. 
Annual, sparingly pubescent. Flowers very small 2. P. minima. 
1. P. peruviana (of Peru), Linn.: Dun. in DC. Prod. xiii. part i. 440 ; 
Benth. PI. Austr. iv. 46(5. Cape Gooseberry. A herbaceous perennial of 1 to 
2ft., softly pubescent or lomentose with simple hairs. Leaves petiolate, broadly 
ovate, acuminate, entire or slightly sinuate-toothed, mostly cordate at the base, 
2 to Bin. long. Pedicels short, rarely Ain. long even in fruit, recurved after 
flowering. Calyx when in flower about 3 lines long, with narrow lobes as 
long as the tube. Corolla rather above §in. in diameter, pale-yellow with purple 
spots in the centre. Fruiting calyx vesicular, with connivent teeth, 1 to Him 
long, reticulate, with the principal veins prominent, but not so angular as in 
P. minima. Perry globular, yellow. — Nees, in PI. Preiss. i. 344 ; P. pubescent, 
R. Pr. Prod. 447, and of Linn. Herb, but not of Linn. Spec. PL; P. edulix, 
Sims, Pot. Mag. t. 1068. 
Ha'i.: Brisbane River to range Trinity Bay. 
The spe.ies is of South American origin, and perhaps really indigenous in the islands of the 
Pacific, but long since cultivated for its berries, and established as a weed in several tropical 
countries. — Benth. 
2. Pe minima (small), Linn.; Dun. in DC. Prod, xiii., part i. 445 ; Benth. 
PI. Austr. iv. 466. “ Neen-gwan,” Cloncurry, Palmer. An erect annual of 
about 1ft., with spreading branches, more or less pubescent with scattered 
simple hairs. Leaves petiolate. ovate, acute or acuminate, irregularly sinuate- 
toothed or rarely entire, thin and membranous, mostly 2 to Bin. long. Flowers 
very small, on filiform pedicels sometimes very short, sometimes above Ain. long. 
Calyx when in flower scarcely 1.) line long, with short acuminate teeth. Corolla 
about twice as long as the calyx, pale-yellow, the centre often purple. Fruiting 
calyx about lin. long, vesicular, with 5 prominent angles and acuminate conni- 
vent teeth. Perry globular. — P. parti flora, R. Pr. Prod. 447 ; Dun. in DC. 
Prod. xiii. part i. 444, with some other supposed species enumerated by Dunal ; 
/'. jiuhescens, Wight, 111. t. 166b, fig. 6. not of Linn.; Rheede, Hort. Mai. x. t. 71. 
Hab.: B oadsound and Keppel Bay. 1!. Brou-n; Moreton Bay, Leichhardt, F. v. Mueller; 
Rockhampton. O' Shanesy, Dallachy; Nerkool and Crocodile Creeks, Bowmam; Rockingham 
Bay, Dallachy : Port Molle, M‘ Gillivray . 
Fruit eaten by natives on Cloncurry, Palmer. 
Yar. indicu. A taller plant, gla'brescent; fruiting calyx 5-anglar. — Rheede, Hort. Mal.’x. t. 70. 
— This variety has become naturalised in many localities. 
The species is dispersed over tropical America. Asia, and Africa, and very common in E. 
India. 
4. ^CAPSICUM, Linn. 
(Supposed to be from the Greek ; alluding to the pungent qualities of the fruit.) 
Calyx campanulate, subentire or minutely o-toothed, much shorter than the 
fruit. Corolla rotate ; lobes 5. valvate in the bud. Stamens 5, attached near 
the base of the corolla. Anthers not longer than the filaments, dehiscing 
longitudinally. Ovary 2 rarely 3-celled ; style linear, stigma subcapitate. Perry 
very variable in form and size, many-seeded. Seeds discoid or subscabrous. 
Embryo peripheric. 
Specie^ American, but cultivated in all warm countries. 
