CHAP. LXXXIV. OF THE HARDY LIGNEOUS PLANTS OF THE ORDER SOLANA CEÆ. THE few ligneous or suffruticose hardy plants contained in this order are included in the genera Solànum, Lycium, and Crabówskia, which are thus characterised: SOLANUM Pliny. Calyx 5-cleft, rarely 4-cleft. Corolla rotate, rarely campanulate, usually 5-cleft. Anthers connivent, dehiscing by pores at the apex. Berry 2-celled, rarely 4-celled. (Don's Mill., iv. p. 398.) LY'CIUM L. Calyx 5-toothed, or 3-5-lobed. Corolla funnel-shaped or tubular. Anthers usually exserted, and not connivent, opening lengthwise. Berry 2-celled. (Don's Mill., iv. p. 399.) CRABO'WSKIA Schlecht. Calyx 5-toothed. Corolla funnel-shaped. Limb convolute in æstivation, reflexed. Drupe containing two, 2-celled, bony carpels. Cells 1-seeded. (Don's Mill., iv. p. 400.) GENUS I. ΙΝΙ SOLA'NUM Pliny. THE NIGHTSHADE. Lin. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia Identification. Tourn. Inst., p. 149. t. 62.; Lin. Gen., No. 251.; Schreb. Gen., No. 337.; Juss. Gen., 126., ed. Usteri, p. 141.; Moench Meth., p. 473.; R. Br. Prod., 444.; Dunal Mon. Sol., 115.; Lindl. Nat. Syst. Bot., p. 295.; Don's Mill., 4. p. 400. Synonymes. Melongèna Tourn. Inst., p. 151. t. 65.; Pseudo-Capsicum Manch Meth., p. 476.; Nycterium Vent. Jard. Maim., p. 85.; Aquártia Jacq. Amer., p. 15. t. 12.; Morelle, Fr.; Nachtschatten, Ger. Derivation. The first use of the word Solanum occurs in the writings of Tragus, who applied it to Chenopodium hybridum. It is said to be derived from solari, to console. The Greeks called our European solanums struchnoi, a name which Linnæus transferred to the genus of tropical shrubs, Strychnos, to which the nux vomica belongs. (Bot. Reg., t. 1516.) Gen. Char., &c. Caly permanent, 5-, rarely 4-, cleft. Corolla rotate, rarely campanulate, 5-, rarely 4-, cleft. Anthers oblong, connivent, opening by 2 pores at the apex. Berry almost globose, 2-3-4-celled, but usually 2-celled. (Don's Mill., iv. p. 400.)- Herbs or shrubs, unarmed or prickly, rarely spiny. Leaves undivided, sinuated, lobed, impari-pinnate, or decompound, usually alternate; but, in many species, twin, rarely ternary. Peduncles solitary or numerous, simple or multifid, axillary or extra-axillary, 1- or many-flowered, opposite the leaves, or scattered, or terminal. The pedicels in S. tuberosum are articulated under the flower. The fruit of S. esculéntum is large and 5-celled. In some species, the flowers are sometimes 6-9-cleft. 1. S. DULCAMARA L. The Bitter-sweet, or woody Nightshade. Identification. Lin. Sp., p. 264.; Don's Mill., 4. p. 409.; Smith's Eng. Fl., 1. p. 317.; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. Synonymes. S. scandens, Neck. Gallo-Bel., 119.; Dulcamara flex. uosa Moench Meth.; p. 514.; S. scándens seu Dulcamara Tourn. Inst., p. 149.; Amara dúlcis Gerard Emac., 350.; Dúlcis amàra Trag., 816.; Glycýpicros seu Dulcamara Bauh. Hist., 2. p. 109. icon.; la Morelle grimpante, Régnault Bot. Icon. Engravings. Engl. Bot., t. 565.; Baxt. Brit. Fl. Pl., vol. 2. t. 110. ;+ Curt. Fl. Lond., 1. t. 14.; Fl. Dan., t. 607.; Woodv. Med. Bot., 97. t. 33.; Stev. et Church. Med. Bot. Icon; and our fig. 1104. Spec. Char., &c. Shrubby, scandent, flexuous. Leaves ovate-cordate; superior ones hastate. Corymbs almost opposite the leaves. Shrub glabrous. Leaves cordate; superior ones hastate, all quite entire. Corymbs panicled. Corolla violet-coloured, with reflexed segments, each segment furnished with 2 green spots at the base. Berries elliptic, red. (Don's Mill., iv. 1104 p.409.) A climbing shrub, a native of Europe, Asia, and North America, in hedges and among bushes; plentiful in Britain; flowers in June and July. Varieties. S. D. 1 violacea Hort. Eyst., p. 385. t. 384. No. 3.- Corollas violet. 1 S. D. 2 álba Lin. Fl. Suec., p. 66. — Corollas white. There are plants of this variety in the collection of Messrs. Loddiges. S. D. 3 cárnea Cels. Ups., 32.- Corollas flesh-coloured. S. D. 4 plèna Tourn. Inst., 149., Hort. Eyst., 1. c.- Corollas double. IS. D. 5 variegata Munt., fig. 156., Tourn. Inst., 149., Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. Leaves variegated. S. D. 6 hirsuta Don's Mill, iv. p. 409.; S. littorale Hort. - Plant hairy or downy. Flowers violet. Found on the sea coast. There are plants in Messrs. Loddiges's collection. S. D.7 rupestris Schmidt Fl. Bot., p. 69.— Stem erect. Leaves ovate, quite entire. Racemes few-flowered, dichotomous. A native of Bohemia. (Don's Mill., iv. p. 409.) Description, Properties, &c. The stems of this species are roundish, branched, twisted, and climbing by elongation, among other shrubs, and in hedges, to the height of 6 ft. or 8 ft. or upwards. When bruised, broken, or rubbed, they yield a strong and peculiar odour, not unlike that which proceeds from rats and mice. The roots smell like potatoes; and both roots and stalks, upon being chewed, first cause a sensation of bitterness, which is soon followed by a considerable degree of sweetness, whence the specific name. The plant has been in repute for its medical virtues since the days of Theophrastus, by whom it was called Vitis sylvestris; by Pliny, it was called Melortum. Gerard, Boerhaave, Cullen, and others, attribute to the berries, and also to the leaves and stalks, many virtues; and the plant is still in great repute among rustic practitioners. In Wales a salve is made from the leaves, which is considered infallible in removing bruises. A decoction of the whole plant, or an infusion of the young twigs, is considered excellent in rheumatic cases, and also in jaundice and scurvy. The berries are poisonous; and, as they are common in hedges, they are very frequently eaten by children, on whom they operate by exciting violent vomiting and purging. To lessen their deleterious effects, warm water should be administered immediately, and in large quantities, to dilute the poison, and provoke vomiting. To prevent vomiting, when an infusion or decoction of the plant is taken medicinally, it is diluted with milk. (Smith's Eng. Fl., i. p. 118.) Trained to a single stem, to the height of 6 ft. or 8 ft., and supported by a strong iron rod, with a parasol top, this common hedge weed might form a very handsome gardenesque pendulous tree. The Acheróntia A tropos Fab., in its larva state (fig. 1081. in p. 1253.) feeds on the bitter-sweet and the elder, as well as on the common white jasmine. P. 413. 2. S. SUFFRUTICO'SUM Schousb. The suffruticose Nightshade. Identification. Schousb. ex Willd. Enum., p. 236.; Dun. Sol., p. 154.; Syn., p. 13.; Don's Mill., 4. Spec. Char., &c. Stem unarmed, suffruticose. Leaves ovate, dentately angular, nearly glabrous, ciliated. Flowers subpanicled (ex Dun.). Umbels extra-foliaceous, pedunculate (ex Willd.). Branches 2-edged, or quadrangularly winged from the decurrence of the petioles. Angles toothed. Leaves large, glaucous, covered above with soft hairs while young. Flowers white. Berries black. Very like 8. nigrum; but the stem is shrubby, the leaves larger, and the flowers more numerous, &c. (Don's Mill., 4. p. 413.) A shrub, a native of Barbary, where it grows to the height of 4 ft., and flowers from May till September. It was introduced in 1804; but we have not seen the plant. 13. S. CRISPUM R. & S. The curled-leaved Solanum. Identification. Rom. et Schult. Sp. Pl., 4. p. 595. ; Fl. Peruv., 2. £. 1. t. 158. f. a. ; Dunal Solan., 159. ; Syn. p. 16. No. 78.; Lindl. Bot. Reg., t. 1516.; Don's Mill., 4. p. 414. Engravings. Bot. Reg., t. 1516.; and our fig. 1105. Spec. Char., &c. Stem shrubby. Leaves ovate, subcordate, wavedly curled, acuminate. Flowers corymbose. (Rom. et Schult. Sp. Pl., iv. p. 95.) Leaves all simple, undivided, ovate, or cordate, acuminate, petiolate, slightly curled at the margin; younger leaves powdery, but full-grown ones green. Cymes many-flowered, terminal, all the parts powdery. Bracteas none. Calyx short, 5-toothed. Corolla middle-sized, of a bluish lead-colour. Anthers equal, yellow. (Lindl.) A native of Chiloe, in waste places and hedges. Introduced by Mr. Anderson, collector to Mr. Lowe of the Clapton Nursery, in 1830. It is a hardy vigorous-growing plant, of a much more ligneous character than S. Dulcamàra, subevergreen, and covered with flowers nearly the whole summer. A plant in the Horticultural Society's Garden attained the height of 10 ft., against a wall, in 3 years; and its stem is between 3 in. and 4 in. in diameter: one in the Clapton Nursery is still larger. As this species will grow in any soil, and is readily propagated by cuttings, it promises to be 1105 of great value as an ornamental climber, for rapidly covering naked walls. Dr. Lindley observes that, "if tied to a stake, and thus forced to grow erect, it will throw out a great number of lateral branchlets, at the end of every one of which is a bunch of flowers. It this state it was exhibited by Mr. Lowe of Clapton, at a meeting of the Horticultural Society, in April, 1832, and was greatly admired." (Bot. Reg., t. 1516.) It is readily propagated by cuttings, and promises to be a most valuable shrub for covering naked walls, or varying ruins or rockwork. The smooth shining green of its leaves, which are seldom eaten by insects, and the profusion of its flowers, which are bluish, render it highly ornamental. 4. S. BONARIE'NSE L. The Buenos Ayres Nightshade. Identification. Lin. Sp., No. 264., exclusive of the syn. of Plum.; Dun. Sol., 198., Syn., p. 34.; Dill. Elth., p. 264.; Don's Mill., 4. p. 429. Engravings. Dill Elth., p. 264. t. 272. f. 351.; and our fig. 1106. Spec. Char., &c. Shrubby, almost un armed. Leaves ovate-oblong sinuately repanded, smoothish. Racemes corymbose, lateral, or extrafoliaceous. Stem green, prickly at the base; adult stems unarmed. Leaves sometimes entire, rarely prickly. Corymbs large. Calyx 4-5-cleft. Segments subulate. Corolla large, white, downy outside. Berry globose, ? yellow, 4-celled, size of a small pea. Root creeping. (Don's Mill., iv. p. 429.) A shrub, a native of Buenos Ayres, where it grows from 6 ft. to 10 ft. in height, flowering from June to Sep tember. It was introduced in 1727; and a plant in the Chelsea Garden has stood against the wall for 50 years, and is now 8 ft. high. App. i. Half-hardy ligneous or fruticose Species of Solanum. Solanum Balbisii Dunal, Bot. Reg., t. 140., is a native of South America, with blue flowers, which are produced from April to September. It was introduced in 1816, and, at first, treated as a green house plant; but a specimen planted against the wall in the Horticultural Society's Garden, in 1833, grows vigorously, and flowers freely every year. It belongs to the section Dulcamara, of which there are a number of species or varieties indigenous to almost every part of the world, which are, in all probability, half-hardy or hardy. There are several shrubby sorts, unnamed, from Valparaiso, which have stood out several years in the Chelsea Botanic Garden; and a number of names in the enumeration in our Hortus Britannicus seem to indicate that the plants might be tried in the open air in favourable situations. 1107 S. betaceum Cav., Bot. Rep., t. 411., is a native of South America, from which country it was introduced into Britain in 1803. It forms a splendid shrub, 10 ft. or 12 ft. high, and produces egg-shaped fruit, of a deep crimson colour. The fruit are about the size and shape of magnum bonum plums, and hang down in clusters of three or four together. (Gard. Mag., vol. ii. p. 105.) A plant of this species in the Cambridge Botanic Garden, in 1816, produced leaves nearly a foot in length, and half a foot in breadth; giving out, when handled, an odour resembling that of the bruised wood of S. Dulcamara. This species resembles, in its free habit of growth, Brugmansia suaveolens; and it is observed by a correspondent of the Gardener's Magazine, that it is likely to thrive and flower under the same treatment as that plant. The same writer adds, "did the plants of S. betaceum, when planted out, produce only a copious clothing of such leaves, they would, in themselves, be striking, and impart an additional tropical feature to the British flower-garden." (Ibid., p. 155.) The plants of this species in the Bristol Nursery are said to be somewhat different from that figured in the Botanical Repository. (Ibid., p. 269.) S. angulatum R. et S., Dun. Sol., 2. 95. t. 1., is a native of Lima, introduced in 1825. It has large angulated prickly leaves, with purple veins and petioles. Preserved through the winter in a stove, and turned out in the spring, it makes a splendid appearance in the flower border. S. marginatum W., Bot. Mag., t. 1928., is a native of Africa, and forms an evergreen shrub, 4 ft. or 5 ft. high., striking from the mealy whiteness of its leaves. S. Pseudo-Capsicum L., Capsicum Amòmum Plínii Gerard, is a native of Madeira, an old inhabitant of our green-houses. It grows 4 ft. or 5 ft. high, and produces red, or yellowish fruit, about the size of cherries. Gerard says, "it is a rare and pleasant plant, kept in pots and tubs in green-houses during the extremity of winter, and set abroad in March and April." S. sodomeum L., the apple of Sodom, is a native of different parts of Africa, and also of Sicily, and the south of Italy. It is a shrub, with numerous short and thick branches, armed with many spines. The leaves are above 4 in. long, and 2 in. broad. The flowers are blue, and the berries yellow, as large as walnuts. It abounds, along with Spártium infestum Prest, on the coast of Calabria, and at the foot of Mount Etna. (Comp. Bot. Mag., 1. p. 95.) S. ligústrinum Lodd. Bot. Cab., t. 1963., and our fig. 1107., is a native of Chili, introduced by Mr. Cumming in 1831, and flowering in a sheltered border from May to September. It is a free-growing shrub, readily propagated by cuttings; and judging from the plant in the Chelsea Botanic Garden, from which our figure was taken, we should think it tolerably hardy, GENUS II. LY'CIUM L. THE BOX THORN. Lin. Syst. Pentándria Monogynia. Identification. Lin. Gen., 1262.; Lam. Ill., t. 112.; H. B. et Kunth Nov. Gen. Amer., S. p. 50.; Lindl. Nat. Syst. Bot., 2d edit., p. 295.; Don's Mill., 4. p. 457. Synonymes. Jasminoides Niss. in Act. Gall., 1711, Mich. Gen., 224. t. 105.; Matrimony Vine, Amer.; Lycien, Fr.; Bocksdorn, Ger. One species, L. barbarum, is commonly called the Duke of Argyll's tea tree, from the circumstance of a tea plant (Thèa viridis) having been sent to the Duke of Argyll at the same time as this plant, and the labels having been accidentally changed. Derivation. Derived from Lycia, in Asia Minor; hence the lukion of Dioscorides; a name given by him to a thorny shrub, which was supposed by Dr. Sibthorp to have been the Rhamnus infectorius, but which Mr. Royle, with greater probability, regards as identical with a species of Bérbcris, which he has denominated Bérberis Lycium. Description, &c. Thorny rambling shrubs, in general producing long slender shoots, and assuming the character of climbers. Natives of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. Hedges may be formed of the first nine sorts. 1. L. EUROPE'UM L. The European Box Thorn. Identification. Lin. Syst., 228.; Mant., p. 47.; Willd. Enum., 1. p. 246.; Sibth. et Smith FL. Græc., t. 236.; Don's Mill., 4. p. 458.; Lodd. Cat., ed. 1836. Synonymes. L. salicifolium Mill. Dict., No. 3., Mich. Gen., p. 224. t. 105. f. 1., Mill. Icon., t. 171. f. 2.; Jasminöldes aculeatum Mich. Engravings. Mich. Gen., t. 105. f. 1.; Mill. Icon., t. 171. f. 2.; and our fig. 1108. Spec. Char., &c. Branches erect, loose. Buds spinescent. Leaves fascicled, obovate-lanceolate, obtuse, or spathulate, bent obliquely. Flowers twin or solitary. Corolla funnel-shaped. Stamens exserted, but shorter than the limb. Calyx 5-cleft, ruptured at the side. Corollas pale violet, reticulated with red veins; tube greenish. (Don's Mill., iv. p. 458.) A rambling 1108 shrub, with long slender shoots, and prone to throw up innumerable suckers; a native of the south of Europe, where it grows to the height of from 10 ft. to 12 ft.; flowering from May till August. It was introduced in 1730, and is common in British gardens; where it is valuable for covering naked walls, as it grows with extreme rapidity, and flowers and fruits freely, in almost any soil or situation. Established plants, in good soil, will make shoots 10 ft. or 12 ft. in length in one season; and the plant, when trained against a house or high wall, will reach the height of 30 t. or 40 ft., as may be seen in some courts in Paris. Trained to a strong iron rod, to the height of 20 ft. or 30 ft., and then allowed to spread over an umbrella head, it would make a splendid bower. Its shoots would hang down to the ground, and form a complete screen on every side, ornamented from top to bottom with ripe fruit, which is large, and bright scarlet or yellow; with unripe fruit, which is of a lurid purple; or with blossoms, which are purple and white. Some idea of the quantity of ripe and unripe fruit, and of blossoms, which may be found on a shoot at one time, may be formed from fig. 1108., which is only a portion of a shoot, the upper part of which (not exhibited in the figure) contained two or three dozen of fruit, all ripe at once. If it were required to open the sides of a bower covered with this plant, the shoots could be tied together so as to form columns, at regular distances all round: but they must be untied in an hour or two afterwards, to prevent the shoots in the interior of the column from being heated so as to cause them to drop their leaves and fruit. Price of plants, in the London nurseries, from 6d. to 1s. each; at Bollwyller, 30 cents; and at New York, 37 cents. Varieties. There is a variety with yellow fruit, and 2. L. (E.) BA'RBARUM L. The Identification. Lin. Sp., 277.; Willd. Sp., 4. Synonymes. L. halimifolium Mill. Dict., No. Spec. Char., &c. Branches depend- 1109 |