Witheringia
(name commemorative of William Withering, of Birmingham, 1741-1799, author of a "Botanical Arrangement of the Vegetables of Great Britain," 1776). SYNS. Aureliana, Bassovia (now the correct name). ORD. Solanaceae. A genus comprising about a dozen species of stove or greenhouse, erect or sarmentose shrubs or small trees, rarely tall herbs, natives of South and Central America and the West Indies. Flowers often rather small; calyx five to ten-toothed; corolla deeply five-cleft; pedicels often fascicled, umbellate, solitary or twin. Leaves entire or slightly sinuate. Most of the species formerly known in gardens as Witheringias have been removed to Solanum (which see), but it is doubtful if any are now cultivated.