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gray false nightshade, gray five eyes

Herbage

pubescent, viscid, hairs simple, dendritic in some populations, especially in s Texas, eglandular and glandular.

Stems

decumbent to ± prostrate, pale green, 1–3 dm.

Leaves

subsessile;

blade linear-lanceolate or oblanceolate to rhombic, 2–6 × 0.5–2 cm, length 3–4 times width, margins shallowly to deeply lobed (occasionally only a few shallow lobes).

Inflorescences

1–5-flowered.

Flowers

calyx 4–5 mm, densely pubescent, hairs mostly relatively long;

corolla 5–15 mm diam.

Berries

8–10 mm diam. 2n = 48.

Chamaesaracha coniodes

Phenology Flowering Mar–Oct (mostly late spring–early sum­mer, depending on rain).
Habitat Deserts, grasslands.
Elevation 0–2000 m. (0–6600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CO; KS; NM; OK; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas)
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Discussion

Chamaesaracha coniodes is highly variable in leaf shape, vestiture, and stature. It is similar to C. darcyi and C. coronopus. Some populations are similar to C. sordida. The variation and its significance were discussed by J. E. Averett (2010b). J. Henrickson (2009) recognized C. texensis, which has simple hairs and may also have an understory of glandular hairs, as distinct from the type of C. coniodes, which has only dendritic hairs; this is part of the variability across the range of the species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa Solanaceae > Chamaesaracha
Sibling taxa
C. coronopus, C. crenata, C. darcyi, C. edwardsiana, C. pallida, C. sordida, C. villosa
Synonyms Solanum coniodes, C. texensis
Name authority (Moricand ex Dunal) Bentham & Hooker f. ex B. D. Jackson in B. D. Jackson et al.: Index Kew. 1(1): 505. (1893)
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