not a foot high, with a few axillary, yellowish flowers, and lanceolate
leaves ; stem often branched at the upper p a rt; June.
P edicularis . L. 13. 2. Lousewort.
The common name is a translation of the botanical, and arises
from the supposition that sheep become lousy by feeding on it,
while the poor pastures in which it grows is the probable reason
of their being covered with vermin. Loudon. About 40 species
are described, of which about a dozen belong to North
America, and 2 to New England. The plants are somewhat
showy, with regular, but much-cut leaves. A dozen species
have been reared in the English gardens.
P. Canadensis. L. - Common Lousewort. Grows in open
woods, and on sunny hills ; is extirpated easily by cultivation ; a
short, somewhat prostrate plant, growing in clusters, with yellow
or orange-colored flowers in short, dense spikes ; leaves lanceolate,
pinnatifid, toothed or notched ; May.
P. pallida. Ph. Tall Lousewort. Stem 1 or 2 feet high,
branched, with pubescent lines ; leaves pinnatifid, toothed, and
crenate ; flowers large, pale-yellowcapsule short and broad-
ovate ; low grounds ; September.
ORDER 213. SOLANEJE. T he N ightshade T r ib e .
Calyx inferior, persistent, 5-parted, rarely of 4 divisions ;
eorolla i-petalled, cleft like the calyx, regular, rarely irregular or
unequal; stamens equal m number to the segments of the corolla,
and inserted on i t ; ovary superior, 2 or 4-celled; leaves alternate,
undivided or lobed.
This order contains many important plants ; some healthful,
some very poisonous, some beautiful ; found chiefly within the
tropics. There are few species indigenous to New England ;
many, however, are cultivated, or have been naturalized. General
properties are cathartic, discutient, emetic, and antiscorbutic ;
great diversity of properties.
SoLANUM. L. 5, 1.
Supposed by some to be derived from the Latin, to comfort; a
very doubtful etymology ; abounds in Mexico and Peru ; more
than 140 species have been described ; only a few species are
natives of the western temperate zone ; 2 are common in New
England ; nearly 60 introduced into England.
<S. dulcamara. L. Bitter-sweet. Possesses in its roots the
taste implied in its name ; common about houses and waste places,
wet or dry, and bears bright red berries in clusters ; medicinal ;
about 2 feet high, but, when trained, grows 8 or 10 feet. Bigelow’s
“ Medical Botany.” Supposed to be introduced from
England. Shape of the leaves lyrate or fiddle-form.
<S. nigrum. L. Black Nightshade. A less common plant,
in waste places, about fields ; berries black ; has the characters
of a poisonous plant ; flowers nodding, white ; 2 or 3 feet high ;
August. A native of this country as well as of Europe.
<S. tuberosum. L. Potato. The root is tuberous, hence the
botanical name. Potato seems to be a corruption of the Spanish
batata, by which name it was introduced into Spain from Peru
about 1550. The French and Italians called it apple of the earth.
The plant was introduced into England by Sir Walter Raleigh,
or those who returned with him from Virginia in 1586, and called
Virginia Potato. It has been found in its native soil only a few
times by the later botanists, who have so extensively examined
the various parts of America. In 1818, Dr. Baldwin, a distinguished
botanist of this country, saw it growing in its native state
near Monte Video, on the river La Plata. Darlington. Humboldt
also found it in South America. It is a small, slender plant
bearing quite small tubers. Cultivation has made a great change
in it, and vastly improved it. Slowly it came into use, and was
considered as a root more fit for cattle and hogs than for man.
It was probably a poor variety, some of which, now cultivated,
are scarcely palatable. In the latter part of the last century,
when it had become extensively used, it was regarded by many