One of the largest genera of plants, but in a great measure confined to the Tropical regions, especially of South
America. The wild Potato is, however, eitratropical, being a native of the humid coasts of Cliili, where the production
of tubers does not appear to be n constant character, but one depending on local causes, and increased very much
m degree by cultivation. There are a great many (about thirty) species in Australia, but only one in Tasmania, the
S. lacmmtum of New Zealand, except the S. nigrum, now equaUy abundant there and here, bo included. The latter
IS a plant that is now universaUy diffused in all temperate and tropical latitudes, aud is certainly indigenous to
mauy and transported into others. It swarms about the Bay of Islands, Auckland, and all the settlements, and I
find It 111 Banks and Solander’s collections.—The New Zealand Solana may be readily recognized by their herbaceous
habit, the stems woody at the base only, alternate exstipulate leaves, cymose nodding ilowers, often rising from the
stem above the leaf (to whose axil they are referable, the peduncle being connate with the stem). Calyx and corolla
five-lobed, the latter plaited, rotate, or bell-shaped. Stamem five, with short filaments and long anthers, eoniiiving
and formmg a cone. Fruit a two-celled, many-seeded berry. (Name of doubtful origin.)
1. Solanum aviculare, Forst. ; herbaceum, basi fruticosum. glabrum, foliis lineari-lanceolatis integris v.
pinnatiñdis^ laciniis elongatis, racemis axiUaribus ramisve lateralibus corymbosis simplicibus v. divisis,
calyce breviter v. ad medium 5-fido, coroEæ lobis emarginatis obtusisve, baccis ovoideis. Forst Prodr y i
R a h . Flor. Solanum laciniatum, Aor(. & . Br. Prodr. Bot. Mag.t. UÜ. S.laaxoccm, Banks et Sol.
31 SS. et Ic.
Ha b . Throughout the Islands. Common in woods. Banks and Solander, eto. Nat. name, “ Poro-
poro" m the northern, and “ Kohoho " in the southern parts of the Islands, Col. (Cultivated in England.)
A herb with shrubby stems, 2-5 feet high, and green leaves 4 inches to a foot or so long, petiolate linear-
lanceolate, or ovate and pinnatifid. Cymes axillary or on the branches, eight- to ten-flowered. Mowers verv variable
m size, Í-1 inch across the corolla, which is purplish. Berry egg-shaped, yellow, eaten with avidity by liirds and
the natives.-Cook’s sailors ate it on the faith of the birds not being poisoned, a very dangerous experiment, as
animals eat many fruits and leaves that are poison to man.
2. Solanum nigrum, L .; herbaceum caule basi frutescente, erectum v. prostratum, foliis subovatis
smuato-angulatis acutis membranaceis, corymbis lateralibus subumbellatis. Unn. Sji. PI. Banks et
Sol. 3ISS,
H a b . Northern and Middle Islands. Abundant in various situations, especially near houses and
cultivation, Banks and Solander, etc. (Native of Britain.)
One of the most common and universally distributed plants throughout the tropical and temperate latitudes of
the globe, varying exceedingly. Stms 1-3 feet high, branching from a woody base, erect or procumbent Leaves
pe loled, ovate, acute, sinuate-dentate, 1-3 inches long. Flowers in lateral cymes, or subumbellate, white with
yellow anthers, drooping. Berrws size of a black currant, black or red.
Ob s . The seeds of Solaneæ are remarkably tenacious of their vitality, and hence various species of the Order
are soon uaturahzed; amongst those in New Zealand are the common cultivated Potato, «. Merosuu (“ Tihou”
and kumera ), the Cape Gooseberry, or ■■ Tipare ” of India. Physalie pubescem. Tobacco, Nicotiana Tabacum and
Capsicums {Lycopermon), all natives of the Americas.
N a t . O rd , L V I I I . CONVOLVULACEÆ, Mss.
Gen. I. CALYSTEGIA, Br.
Calyx 5-partitus, bracteis 2 foliaceis inclusus. Corolla campanulata, 5-loba, plicata. Stamina sub-
mqnalia, hmbo breviora. Ovarium semi-bilocniare, 4-spermum. Stylus indivisus ; stigmata 2, obtusa
Capmla 1-locularis.
A very beautiful genus, too well known as Convolvulus to require any detailed description. The species of
Calystegia are few, but very widely diffused beyond the Tropics, and distinguished from Convolvulus by the leafy
bracts at the base of the calyx, and the two blunt stigmas. Their flowers are the most graceful and beautiful to
be found in New Zealand ; but the different kinds, if indeed they be different, are extremely difficult to define
by words.—Climbing or prostrate smooth herbs, with milky juice. Leaves alternate, exstipulate. Flowers solitary,
axillary, peduneled. Calyx of five sepals, enclosed in two leafy bracts. CorolU bell-shaped, plaited, five-lobed.
Siigma% two, bluiit. (Name from a calyx, and oreyos, a covering)
1. Calystegia ícyjíií», Br. ; scandens, caule puberulo v. glaberrimo, foliis amplis oblongo-sagittatis
acuminatis basi alte cordato-bilobis, lobis rotundatis angulatis lobatis truncatisve, bracteis acutis v. obtusis
calyce longioribus, pedunculis petiolo sæpissime duplo longioribus angulatis. Br. Prodr. A. Bich. Flora.
A. Cunn. Prodr. DC. Prodr. Convolvulus, Unn. Fngl. Bot. t. SIS.
H a b . Throughout the Islauds, abundant. Banks and Solander, etc. Nat. name, “ Panahe and Pohue,
Col. (A native of Britain.)
This beautiful plant, the English " Bind-weed,” is as common in the Southern Hemisphere as it is m the
Northern, being found in Chib, Australia, Tasmania, and Java, varying in the colour of its flowers from white
to rose-purple. It is to be distinguished from the foUowing by its great size, long leaves (2-4 inches), sometimes
acute, but generally acuminate, and deeply bilobed at the base, the sinus often 1 inch deep, rounded at
the insertion of the petiole ; the lobes long and paraUel, placed close together, their apices round angled, truncate,
or sinuate. Peduncles angled or margined, 3-5 inches long. Bracts very variable in shape, broadly ovate or oblong,
acute or with long acuminate points, longer than the calyx. Corolla 3-4 inches broad, in small states l i inch,
but these, are rare.—Of the ahove characters there is not one that can be strictly relied upon, and I do not know
how this plant is to be distinguished in all its states, except by applying the above description in a general
sense. GeneraUy there is no difficulty in recognizing this, from its climbing habit, large size, deeply twolobed
leaves, and large flowers ; but small, prostrate, short-leaved specimens are very puzzling. The large tuberous
root is eaten by the natives. It is to be remarked that the root of 0. sepium in Europe is considered
poisonous, whereas that of this New Zealand plant is eatable; but I cannot aUow this character alone any
weight as of specific value. The properties of the same species v.ary eminently in various localities. This is
notoriously the case with many medicinal plants, which are of violent action in one climate and innocuous in
others.
2. Calystegia tuguriorum, Br. ; caule prostrato, foliis submembranaceis late ovato-cordatis deltoideisve
acutis obtusisve integris sinuato-lobatis angulatisve sinu lato, pedunculis petiolo longioribus, bracteis
calyce æquilongis obtusis v. acutis acuminatisve, capsula ovata acuta, seminibus fulvis. Br. Prodr. p .
488 in obs. Convolvulus, tuguriorum, Forst. Prodr. C. versatilis et C. lentus. Banks et Sol. MSS. et Ic.
T a b . XLVII.
Var. /S. m.inor; foliis parvis i unc. longis ovato-cordatis acuminatissimis. Convolvulus lacteus. Banks
et Sol. MSS. et Ic.
H a b . Abundant throughout the Islands, Banks and Solander, etc. (Cultivated in England.)
More generally a prostrate plant tlmn 0. sepium, smaller in all its parts. Leaves broadly ovate-cordate or
deltoid-cordate, with a shallow sinus, membranous, blunt, sharp or rounded at the point, entire, angled, or
sinuate and almost lobed. Peduncles longer than the petioles. Bracts as variable in shape as in C. sepium, but
usually shorter. Corolla white or rose-coloured. Capsule ovate, sharp-pointed, i inch long, with yellow seeds_
size of a tare in the few fruiting specimens I have examined.—P l a t e XLVII. Fig. 1 , stamen; 2, ovarium ;—
both magnijied.
3. Calystegia Soldanella, Br. ; caule repente prostrato, foliis crassiusculis reniformibus sinu basi lato
I . y r -