potato family 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; Solandra [syn: {Solanaceae}, {family Solanaceae}]