Flora Medica

SOLANACE^:.Nat. syst.ed. 2. p. 293.HYOSCYAMUS.Calyx tubular, inflated at the base, 5-toothed, permanent.Corolla funnel-shaped, irregular, with a spreading unequal limb,divided into 5, obtuse segments. Filaments nearly equal.Stigma capitate. Capsule opening transversely by a convex lid,2-celled, many-seeded.1065. H. niger Linn, sp.pl 257. Eng. Bot. t. 591. Woodv.t. 52. Smith Eng. Fl. i. 315. Waste grounds and commonsthroughout Europe. (Henbane.)Biennial. Stem from 6 inches to 2 feet high, taper, scarcely branched,covered closely with long weak hairs tipped with a minute blackgland. Leaves sessile, occasionally somewhat decurrent, stem clasping,oblong, acute, coarsely and unequally slashed, pale dull green, slightlypubescent, with long glandular hairs, like those of the stem, upon themidrib. Flowers axillary, subsolitary, nearly sessile, embosomed in theuppermost leaves, than which they are much shorter. Calyx funnelshaped,villous, 5-lobed, regular, wider than the corolla, to whose tube it isequal in length each lobe : ovate, acute, with an open aestivation. Corolladull dirty yellow strongly netted with purple veins, and deep purple atthe orifice, funnel-shaped, with a somewhat erect limb, which is 5-lobed;lobes rounded, the two anterior a little smaller than the others, andseparated at the base by a deep slit in the tube. Stamens 5, declinate,straight, shorter than the corolla, the three lower longer than theothers filaments ; pubescent, inserted about the middle of the tube ofthe corolla. Ovary nearly round, shining, pale green, 2-celled, withnumerous ovules adhering to the dissepiment ; style filiform, declinate,purple at the apex; stigma capitate. Fruit an ovate, many-seededpyxis.A powerful narcotic, the capsules and seeds of which, smokedlike Tobacco, are a rustic remedy for toothach, but convulsions andtemporary insanity are said to be sometimes the consequence of theiruse. Used medicinally the leaves produce effects very similar to thoseof opium.It is employed with advantage in painful and spasmodicaffections, hysteria, rheumatism and gout; also combined with colocynthin painters' colic and mania. It is also used externally to allaythe irritation of very sensible parts ;and the infusion dropped into theeye dilates the pupil like Belladonna.ATROPA.Calyx 5-parted, permanent, nearly equal. Corolla campanulate,with a very short tube ;limb with 5 shallow nearly equalsegments. Filaments nearly as long as the tube of the corolla ;anthers cordate, 4-lobed. Stigma capitate. Berry 2-celled,many-seeded, subtended by the enlarged calyx.508