TRIBE III.—VERBASCINEÆ.
The plants included in this division differ from those in the preceding ones, in not having the corolla plaited in the bud, and in having the anthers only one-celled; distinctions which have been thought of sufficient importance to induce many botanists to make this tribe a separate order.
The British plant sometimes called the Shepherd’s Club, and sometimes the common Mullein or Flannel flower (Verbascum Thapsus), is a familiar example of this genus. In this plant the flower is rotate, or wheel-shaped, and divided into five rather unequal lobes. The calyx is five-cleft; and it possesses such a power of collapsing over the ovary, that when the stem of the plant is struck sharply with a hard substance, every open flower is forced off by the sudden closing of its calyx. There are five stamens, the filaments of which are bearded, and the anthers crescent-shaped; and a capsule, the two cells of which frequently run into one, and which opens by two valves at the apex. The flowers are crowded together in a thick spike-like raceme, which bears no small resemblance to a club. This plant was formerly supposed to be efficacious in driving away evil spirits; and hence it was called Hag’s-taper, now corrupted to High-taper. The whole plant is mucilaginous, and a decoction of it is often given to cattle when they are suffering under pulmonary complaints; and hence is derived another of its names, Cow’s Lungwort. The leaves are thick, and woolly on both sides; and they are decurrent, that is, running down the stem, like little wings on each side.
Celsia differs from Verbascum botanically in having only four perfect stamens, two of which are shorter than the others. The racemes are also much more loose, from the flowers being on rather long pedicels. Most of the species composing this genus were formerly included in Verbascum. Ramonda is another genus, which consists only of the Verbascum Myconi of Linnæus.
TRIBE IV.—NOLANEÆ.
This tribe, which is now made a distinct order by Dr. Lindley, is principally known by the genus Nolana; the species of which are annual plants, natives of Chili and Peru, which have lately been much cultivated in British gardens. The flowers of Nolana atriplicifolia, one of the commonest kinds, very much resemble those of the common Convolvulus tricolor, and the leaves are large and juicy like those of spinach. On opening the corolla there will be found to be five stamens, surrounding four or five ovaries, which are crowded together on a fleshy ring-like disk. These ovaries, when ripe, become as many drupes, enclosing each a three or four celled nut or bony putamen, which is marked with three or more grooves on the outside, and has three or more little holes beneath. All the species of Nolana have the same peculiarities in their seed-vessels, though they differ in many other respects. In the same tribe or order are included two other genera, one of which, called Grabowskia, contains only the singular shrub formerly called Lycium boerhaviæfolium, or Ehretia halimifolia, the nuts of which resemble those of the Coffee.
Besides the plants contained in these four tribes, there are several other genera which some botanists place in Solanaceæ, and others in Scrophularineæ; and among these may be mentioned Franciscea, Browallia, and Anthocercis. In the former of these genera the flowers are small, the corolla is salver-shaped, and the calyx, which is permanent, is inflated and smooth. In Browallia, the calyx is strongly ten-ribbed, and the corolla has an oblique limb; and in both genera there are only four stamens, two of which are longer than the others. In Anthocercis there are four perfect stamens and the rudiments of a fifth. The corolla is not folded in the bud, but has a regular, star-like limb.