PENTANDRIA. MONOGYNTA. Solanum. 319 
( E. Bot. 565. E.)— Ludw. 58— Curt. i. 1— FI. Dan. 607— Blackw. 34— 
Kniph. 1— Woodv. 33— Dod. 402. 2— Lob. Obs. 136. 4— Ger. Em. 350— 
Park. 350— Ger. 279. 1— Trag. 816— Matth. 1281—<7. B. ii. 109. 2. 
( Boot woody. Stems twining, several feet high, slender. Leaves alternate, 
petiolate, egg-spear-shaped ; the upper sometimes, but not always, hal¬ 
berd-shaped. Blossoms purple, with two green spots at the base of each 
reflexed segment, in drooping branched corymbs. Anthers large, yellow, 
on the first opening of the blossom readily separable, but afterwards 
growing dryer, they sooner tear than be disjoined. Berries scarlet, oval. 
Blossom sometimes flesh-coloured; rarely white. E.) 
( Leaves not unfrequently variegated. Sm. E.) 
Var. 2. Leaves hairy. Huds. Sea coast. Ray and Hudson. 
Bitter-sweet. Woody Nightshade. (Irish: Dremire Gorm. Welsh: 
Elinog; Mynyglog. E.) Moist brakes, hedges, and sides of ditches. 
P. June—July.* 
S. ni'grum. Stem without thorns, herbaceous: leaves egg-shaped, 
bluntly toothed, angular : umbels pendent, lateral. 
(E. Bot. 566. E.)— Ludw. 172— Curt. — FI. Dan. 460— Woodv. 226— Sheldr. 
106— Blackw. 107— Dod. 454. 1— Lob. Obs. 133. 2— Ger. Em. 339. 1— 
Park. 346. 1— IT. Ox. a xiii. 1 row 1. 1— Matth. 1069— Ger. 268. 1— 
Fuchs. 68 6—J. B. iii. 6. 608— Trag. 303. 
Root fibrous. Stem branched, angular. Fruit-stalk lateral, midway between 
the leaves. Blossom white. Berries black when ripe, (sometimes yellow. 
Huds. Herb fetid, narcotic, bushy, with numerous leafy branches. Leaves 
undivided, lengthened out at the base, smooth. Flowers musky. Sm. E.) 
With us it is a truly herbaceous annual, but in Portugal I have seen the 
stem from half to one inch diameter, completely ligneous, and its duration 
certainly biennial, probably perennial, the stem and branches becoming 
quite black with age. The figure of Curtis seems to have been taken 
from a plant in an intermediate state, between the strictly herbaceous 
northern, and the woody southern varieties. 
Common Nightshade. Garden Nightshade. (Welsh : Mochlys cyf- 
fredin ; Mochlys grawnddu. E.) Amongst rubbish. On dunghills, and 
in kitchen gardens. A. June—Oct.f 
* (The berries, “ shaped like an egg, and sparkling like a ruby,” as Miss Kent 
elegantly describes them, are bitter and poisonous, exciting violent vomiting and purging. 
The roots and stems yield a bitter taste, followed by a degree of sweetness; hence, both the 
Latin and English, (though the former a somewhat inverted compound), specific names. E.) 
Boerliave reports it to be a medicine far superior to China and Sarsaparilla as a sweetner 
and restorative. Linnaeus says an infusion of the young twigs is an admirable medicine in 
acute rheumatism, inflammations, fevers, and suppression of the lochia. Dr. Hill found it 
efficacious in asthma. Dr. Hallenberg advises it in ischiatic and rheumatic pains, jaundice, 
scorbutic affections, and syphilis. He directs a pint of boiling water to be poured upon two 
drams of the stalks sliced and dried ; after standing half an hour, it must be boiled fifteen 
minutes. The dose is two tea cups full or more, morning and evening. The stalks may be 
gathered early in the spring, or at the end of autumn. Med. Com. vol. 3. p. 15. (The 
Westphalians are said to find a remedy for the scurvy in a decoction of the whole plant. 
Per contra , it may be observed on the faith of Sir John Floyer, that thirty of the berries 
killed a dog in less than three.hours. E.) The root has the smell of its congener the 
potatoe. Sheep and goats eat it. Horses, cows and swine refuse it. 
j- (Its fatal effects on children have been recorded by Webfer and other authors. The 
berries are equally poisonous with the leaves, and to poultry they are immediately fatal. 
