SOLANUM, in botany, nightshade, a genus of the Pentandria Monogynia class and order. Natural order of Luridw. Solaneic, Jussieu. Essential character : corolla wheel-shaped ; anthers subcoa lescent, opening at top by a double pore berry two-celled. There are ninety three species, of which the following are the most remarkable. S. dulcamora, woody nightshade, a native of Britain and of Africa, is a slender climbing plant, rising to six or more feet in height. The leaves are generally oval, pointed, and of a deep-green colour ; the flowers hang in loose clusters, of a purple colour, and divided into five pointed segments. It grows in hedges well supplied with water, and flowers about the end of June. On chewing the roots, we first feel a bitter, then a sweet taste : hence the name. The berries are said to be poisonous, and may easily be mistaken by children for currants. The younger branches are directed for use, and may be employed either fresh or dried ; they should be gathered in the autumn. This plant is generally given in decoction or infusion. Several au thors take notice, that the dulcamora partakes of the milder powers of the nightshade, joined to a resolvent and saponaceous quality. S. nigrum, garden nightshade, common in many places in Britain, about dunghills and waste places. It rises to about two feet in height. The stalk herbaceous ; the leaves alter nate, irregularly oval, indented, and clothed with soft hairs. The flowers
are white ; the berries black and shin ing. It appears to possess the delete rious qualities of the other nightshades in a very high degree, and even the smell of the plant is said to cause sleep. The berries are equally poisonous with the. leaves, causing cardialgia and deli rium, and violent distortions of the limbs in children. In ancient times it was employed externally as a discutient and anodyne in some cutaneous' affec tions, tumefactions of the glands, ulcers, and disorders of the eyes. A variety of the solarium nigrum, a native of the West Indies, is called guma by the negroes. It is so far from having any deleterious quality, that it is daily served up at table as greens or spinach. It has an agreeable bitter taste. S. lycopersicum, the love-apple, or tomato, is cultivated in gardens in the warmer parts of Eu rope, and in all tropical countries. The stalk is herbaceous : the leaves pinnat ed, oval, pointed, and deeply divided The flowers are on simple racemi ; they are small, and yellow. The berry is of the size of a plum : they are smooth, shining, soft ; and are either of a yellow or reddish colour.
S. tuberosum, or common potatoe, is a species of this genus, which is too well known to require description.