Scutellarva. | LABIATAE. 767 
concave deciduous scale. Corolla-tube long, dilated above ; limb 2-lipped, 
the upper one concave, entire or emarginate, the lower convex, dilated, 
3-lobed. Stamens 4, didynamous; anthers conniving in pairs, ciliate, 
lower 1-celled, upper 2-celled. Upper lobe of the style very short.” Nutlets 
small, granular-tuberculate or smooth. | 
A large genus of about 200 species, found in most parts of the world, but most 
abundant in America. The New Zealand species is endemic, but is closely allied to 
the Australian S, humilis R. Br. 
1. S. novae-zealandiae Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. uu (1855) 335. — Stems 
slender, creeping and rooting at the base, erect or ascending above, 
sparingly branched, sparsely pilose or almost glabrous, 5-15 in. high. 
Leaves in distant pairs, on slender petioles +~-?in. long; blade 4-4 1n., 
from ovate or ovate-oblong to orbicular or reniform, 3—5-lobed or 
-crenate or quite entire. Flowers +-41n. long, white, solitary in the axils 
of the upper leaves ; peduncles usually longer than the calyx, often secund. 
Calyx short, minutely pubescent; lips obtuse, rounded; scale at first 
shorter than the upper lip, but becoming much larger in fruit. Corolla 
pubescent, about twice as long as the calyx; lower lip rather longer than 
the upper one; lobes obtuse. Anthers glabrous.—Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 
226; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 568. 8S. humilis Hook. f. Fl. Nov. 
Zel. i (1853) 205 (not of R. Br.). 
SoutH Istanp: Nelson—Maitai Valley and other localities near Nelson, 7’. F. C. ; 
Foxhill, Bidwill, Monro, 7’. F. C. Marlborough—Pelorus and Tinline Valleys, J. H. 
Macmahon | 
Apparently a rare and local plant. It has been recorded from Banks Peninsula 
and Flagstaff Hill, near Dunedin, but, I believe, erronously. 
Family XCII. SOLANACEAE. 
Herbs or shrubs, rarely small trees. Leaves alternate, often in 
unequally placed pairs, but never truly opposite, entire or lobed or 
pinnate; stipules wanting. Flowers regular or occasionally slightly 
irregular, hermaphrodite, solitary or cymose; bracts wanting. Calyx 
inferior, persistent, 4—5-toothed or -lobed. Corolla gamopetalous, hypo- 
gynous, 4—5-toothed or -lobed, campanulate or funnel-shaped or rotate, often 
plicate. Stamens 4—5, inserted on the tube of the corolla and alternate 
with its lobes ; anthers free or conniving, dehiscing lengthwise or by apical 
pores. Ovary superior, 2-celled, rarely incompletely 4-celled ; style ter- 
minal, simple; stigma entire or 2-lobed ; ovules numerous, amphitropous, 
on prominent. peltate placentas attached to the middle of the septum. 
Fruit a berry or capsule, usually 2-celled, many-seeded. Seeds small, 
compressed or reniform; albumen copious; embryo terete, curved or 
almost spiral, radicle next the hilum. 
A large and widely diffused family, most numerous in the tropics, but extending 
northwards and southwards into most temperate regions. Genera about 70; species 
variously estimated, probably considerably over 1500. The family must be considered 
a dangerous one, from the large number of species containing narcotic and poisonous 
principles, as the deadly nightshade, henbane, tobacco, stramonium, &c. A few species 
are simply tonic and bitter, while others are pungent and stimulant, as the various 
kinds of capsicums. But, notwithstanding the generally suspicious character of the 
family, it nevertheless furnishes one of the chief articles of vegetable food in the 
potato, and also includes the tomato, egg-plant, and Cape gooseberry. Among garden- 
plants the genera Petunia, Salpiglossis, Cestrum, and Datura are the most noteworthy. © 
The sole New Zealand genus is almost cosmopolitan. 
