Solanum americanum |
Solanum citrullifolium |
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American black nightshade, American black or common or West Indian nightshade, glossy nightshade, little white nightshade, small-flower nightshade, white nightshade |
melon-leaf nightshade, watermelon nightshade |
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Habit | Herbs to subshrubs, annual to perennial, erect, unarmed, to 1.5 m, glabrate to moderately pubescent, hairs whitish, unbranched, to 1 mm, eglandular. | Herbs, annual, spreading, sparsely to moderately armed, 0.3–0.8 m, prickles yellowish, straight, needlelike, 3–7 mm, sparsely to densely pubescent, hairs short, unbranched, glandular, occasionally with a few longer, unbranched, eglandular hairs, abaxial leaf surfaces usually also with sessile to short-stalked, few-rayed, stellate hairs, central ray equal to or longer than lateral rays. | ||||
Leaves | petiolate; petiole 1–4 cm; blade simple, ovate to ovate-elliptic, 2–10.5 × 1–4.5 cm, margins entire or shallowly sinuate-dentate, base decurrent. |
petiolate; petiole 2–7 cm; blade simple to compound, broadly ovate, 4–10(–15) × 3–8 cm, margins bipinnately lobed or divided with 3–4 main leaflets per side, these with obtuse or rounded lobes, base truncate. |
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Inflorescences | extra-axillary or leaf-opposed, unbranched, usually umbel-like, 3–10-flowered, 0.5–3 cm. |
extra-axillary, unbranched, 4–10-flowered, 3–11 cm. |
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Pedicels | erect or spreading, 0.3–1 cm in flower, to 1.5 cm in fruit. |
1–2 cm in flower, 1–2 cm and erect in fruit. |
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Flowers | radially symmetric; calyx somewhat accrescent, unarmed, 1–3 mm, lobes deltate, strongly reflexed in fruit; corolla white, sometimes with yellowish central star, stellate, 0.4–0.8 cm diam., without interpetalar tissue; stamens equal; anthers ellipsoidal, 0.7–1.5 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits; ovary glabrous. |
bilaterally symmetric; calyx accrescent and tightly covering fruit, densely prickly, 2.5–3.8 mm, densely glandular-pubescent, lobes linear-lanceolate; corolla violet or blue, pentagonal-stellate, 2.5–3.5 cm diam., with interpetalar tissue at margins and bases of lobes; stamens unequal, lowermost much longer and curved; anthers narrow and tapered, dehiscent by terminal pores, short anthers yellow, 6–10 mm, longer anther purplish, 11–16 mm; ovary glabrous. |
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Berries | shiny purplish black, globose, 0.5–1 cm diam., glabrous, with (0–)2–4(–6) sclerotic granules, usually 2–4 larger and 2 smaller. |
brown, globose, 0.8–1.2 cm diam., glabrous, dry, without sclerotic granules. |
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Seeds | pale yellow to brown, 1–1.5 × 0.5–1.5 mm, minutely pitted. |
dark brown, flattened, 2.3–3 × 2–2.5 mm, reticulately wrinkled, ridged, or undulate. |
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2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
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Solanum americanum |
Solanum citrullifolium |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Nov (year-round in Fla.). | |||||
Habitat | Weedy habitats, secondary forest, disturbed areas. | |||||
Elevation | 0–1000(–2000) m. (0–3300(–6600) ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
AL; AZ; CA; FL; GA; LA; MO; MS; OR; SC; TX; UT; WA; BC; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies [Introduced in Europe, Asia, Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia]
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sc United States; se United States; Mexico |
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Discussion | Solanum americanum is a morphologically variable and globally distributed weedy species. It has often been confused with other species in the black nightshade group such as S. emulans, S. nigrescens, S. nigrum, and S. pseudogracile and has often been referred to as S. nodiflorum in floristic treatments. It is distinguished by its very short anthers and shiny black mature fruits with strongly reflexed calyx lobes and usually two to four (rarely none or as many as six) sclerotic granules per fruit. Leaf shape and pubescence can vary considerably throughout its range, and there are some suspected cases of introgression with other species such as S. nigrescens or S. pseudogracile. The name S. nigrum has been misapplied to S. americanum (for example, A. E. Radford et al. 1968). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
North American plants identified as Solanum heterodoxum Dunal are largely misidentifications of S. citrullifolium. Solanum heterodoxum in the current sense is now restricted to Mexico. Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 14. | FNA vol. 14. | ||||
Parent taxa | Solanaceae > Solanum | Solanaceae > Solanum | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | S. nigrum var. americanum, S. nigrum var. nodiflorum, S. nodiflorum, S. ptychanthum | |||||
Name authority | Miller: Gard. Dict. ed. 8 Solanum no. 5. (1768) | A. Braun: Index Seminum (Friburg) 1849: [3]. (1849) | ||||
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