Flora of Dominica, Part 2 - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

208 SOLANACEAE SMITHSONUN CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTANY
Acnistus Schott
Acnistus arborescens
Acnistus arborescens (Linnaeus) Schlechtendal, 1832:67.-Hunziker.
1960:236.-Linle et al., 1974866, pl. 686.-Hunziker, 1982:85.
Atropa arborescens Linnaeus, 175610; 1759, Amoen., 4:307.
Dunalia arborescens (Linnaeus) Sleumer, 1950:124.
Batard sirio, siyou.
Large shrubs, twigs often tomentose; leaves ovate or
elliptical, entire; flowers clustered on stems; pedicels slender,
1-2 cm long; flowers whitish, 9-14 mm long; berry orange, -8
mm across.
Widespread but sporadic in neotropics; midlands of Dominica
at edges of woods and forming roadside thickets, 150-750
m: Colla Anglais (Hodge 1148, Webster 13430), Delices
(Whitefoord 3770), Freshwater Lake area (Chambers 2685,
Eggers 803, Ernst 1086, Hodge 1791, 2030, Lloyd 126, Smith
10288, Wasshuusen & Ayensu 318, Wilbur 7447), Soufribre
road (Burch 1339), South Chiltern (Hodge 1531), Syndicate
(Ernst 2010), sine loc. (Cooper 42).
Browallia Linnaeus
Browallia americana
Browallia americana Linnaeus, 1753:63 1.-D’Arcy, 1973:576.
Browallia demirsa Linnaeus, 1759a:1118.
Herbs; leaves ovate or elliptic, entire; flowers solitary,
pedicels 2-6 mm long; flowers blue or violet, rarely white,
salverform, the limb 1-2 cm across; capsule -9 mm long,
enclosed by the ribbed calyx.
Neotropical weed; common in Dominica on roadsides and in
fields: Bellevue (Hodge 2351), between Fern Villa and Mome
Gay (Hodge 2209), between Fond Baron Estate and Pichelin
(Ernst 1583, Laudat (Lloyd 239), Layou River (Chambers
2797, Ernst 2180), Lisdara Estate (Hodge 796, 797), Montpelier
(Lloyd 588), Morne Colla Anglais (Hodge 1028), Soufriere
(Lloyd 476), Sylvania (Cooper 83), Syndicate (Ernst 1998,
Whitefoord 4463), Wallhouse (Eggers s.n. in 1880), sine loc.
(Eggers 507).
Brugmansia Persoon
Brugmansia suaveolens
Brugmanria suaveolens (Willdenow) Berchtold & Presl, 1823, 1:45.-
Lockwood, 1973:281.
Datwa suaveolens Humboldt & Bmpland ex Willdenow, 1809, Enum.,
227.-Bri~tol, 1966240.
Shrubs; leaves ovate, entire; pedicels solitary, stout; flowers
pendulous, large and showy; calyx tubular, 5-pointed; corolla
to 30 cm long, broadly tubular, white or pink.
Native of South America, widely cultivated as an ornamental,
sometimes escaping; known in Dominica as an escape:
Wcllhouse (Eggers 622), “along banks of a river, 2000 ft”
(Jones 12 at K).
Separation of the woody Brugmansia from herbaceous
Datura was justified by Lockwood (1973) on the basis of bits
and seed coat. Plants from cultivated stocks are not known to
set fruit.
Adjanohoun et al. (1985:177, pl. 144) reported (as Datura
suaveolens) that the dried flowers, smoked in cigarettes, are
hallucinogenic.
Brunfelsia Linnaeus
Brunfelsia americana
Brunfelsia americana Linnaeus, 1753:191.--Little et al., 1974:868, pl.
687.-Plowman in Hawkes et al., 1979:479.
Brunfelsia fallax Duchassaing ex Grisebach, 1857:242.
Rain tree, empoisonneur, peep zombie.
Glabrate shrub or small tree; leaves thick, entire, blunt or
round-tipped; petioles short; pedicels solitary, short and stout;
calyx 5-9 mm long, blunt-tooth&, corolla showy, white but
fading yellow, fragrant, salverform, the tube 3-7 cm long, the
limb 2-5 cm across; berry round, 1-2 cm across, yellow,
thick-skinned.
Hispaniola to Trinidad; in Dominica mostly at lower
elevations on windward coast: Carib Reserve area (Hodge
3298, Stehle 6375, 6382, 6643, 6710), between Capucin and
Bellevue (Wasshausen & Ayensu 384), Cabrits (Hodge 3720 at
US), Hatton Garden (Hodge 3183, 3209), road to Laudat
(Burch 1344A), Melville Hall (Ernst 1679), Pagua Bay (Burch
1401, Wilbur 7532), Roseau Botanic Gardens (Hodge 1001),
Sophia Bay and Walkers Rest (Chambers 2623), Vieille Case
(Beard 663).
Hodge and Taylor (1957503) reported the ripe berries were
used by the Caribs as a poison. The name Brunfelsia americana
has been misapplied to several different horticultural species
that have longer corolla tubes, shorter corolla limbs, and
different calyces. Some may be cultivated on Dominica.
Capsicum Linnaeus
Capsicum annuum
Capsicum annuum Linnaeus, 1753:188.-D’Arcy & Eshbaugh, 1974:98.
Capsicum frutescenr Linnaeus, 1753:189.
Capsicum annuum var.frutescens (Lumaeus) Kuntze, 1891,2:449.
Capsicum baccatum sensu Grisebach, 1862:436. non Linnaeus.
Red pepper, piment, bud pepper.
Slender, erect or sprawling herb or weak shrub; leaves ovate,
entire, sparingly pubescent; pedicels mostly solitary, stiff;
calyx truncate or with minute (