Solanum americanum |
Solanum lumholtzianum |
|
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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 |
Sonoran 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, erect, moderately to densely armed, 0.2–0.7 m, prickles whitish or yellowish, straight, bristlelike, 4–8 mm, 20+ per cm of stem, sparsely pubescent, hairs sessile to short-stalked, unbranched, glandular, sometimes with a few unbranched, eglandular hairs, abaxial leaf surfaces with sparse, sessile, 4–6-rayed, stellate hairs, central ray equal to 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 2.5–6.5 cm; blade simple to compound, broadly ovate, 5–13 × 2.5–9 cm, margins 2–3-times lobed or divided with 4–5 main leaflets per side, leaflets with deep, acute lobes, base truncate. |
Inflorescences | extra-axillary or leaf-opposed, unbranched, usually umbel-like, 3–10-flowered, 0.5–3 cm. |
extra-axillary, unbranched, 6–10-flowered, 3–8 cm. |
Pedicels | erect or spreading, 0.3–1 cm in flower, to 1.5 cm in fruit. |
0.5–1.5 cm in flower, erect and 0.5–1.5 cm in fruit. |
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, 3.5–4.5 mm, sparsely to moderately glandular-pubescent, lobes linear-lanceolate; corolla yellow, stellate, 1.3–1.8 cm diam., with ovate or narrowly deltate lobes, with sparse interpetalar tissue; stamens unequal, lowermost longer and curved, adjacent pair somewhat shorter, uppermost pair shortest; anthers narrow and tapered, dehiscent by terminal pores, shortest anthers 4.5–6 mm, medium-sized anthers 5.6–7.5 mm, longest anther 6.5–8.6 mm; ovary glabrous. |
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, 1–1.4 cm diam., glabrous, dry, without sclerotic granules. |
Seeds | pale yellow to brown, 1–1.5 × 0.5–1.5 mm, minutely pitted. |
dark brown, plump, 3–3.5 × 2.5–3 mm, radially ridged with hilum sunken in a deep notch. |
2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
Solanum americanum |
Solanum lumholtzianum |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Nov (year-round in Fla.). | Flowering Aug–Oct. |
Habitat | Weedy habitats, secondary forest, disturbed areas. | Sandy or gravelly soils, washes, low ground near wet depressions, along stream banks, roadsides. |
Elevation | 0–1000(–2000) m. (0–3300(–6600) ft.) | 900–1400 m. (3000–4600 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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AZ; Mexico (Sinaloa, Sonora) |
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.) |
In the flora area, Solanum lumholtzianum is found only in Pima and Santa Cruz counties. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 14. | FNA vol. 14. |
Parent taxa | Solanaceae > Solanum | Solanaceae > Solanum |
Sibling 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) | Bartlett: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 44: 629. (1909) |
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