(n)large and economically important family of herbs or shrubs or trees often strongly scented and sometimes narcotic or poisonous; includes the genera Solanum, Atropa, Brugmansia, Capsicum, Datura, Hyoscyamus, Lycopersicon, Nicotiana, Petunia, Physalis, and Solandra, Syn.family Solanaceae, potato family
a. (Bot.) Of or pertaining to plants of the natural order Solanaceae, of which the nightshade (Solanum) is the type. The order includes also the tobacco, ground cherry, tomato, eggplant, red pepper, and many more. [ 1913 Webster ]