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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

Brazilian nightshade

Habit Herbs to subshrubs, annual to perennial, erect, unarmed, to 1.5 m, glabrate to moderately pubescent, hairs whitish, unbranched, to 1 mm, eglandular.
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;

petioles twining around supports, 1–4 cm;

blade simple to compound, elliptic to broadly ovate, (2–)3.5–10(–13) × (1–)2–9(–11) cm, margins entire to divided with up to 4 pairs of leaflets, leaflet margins entire, base truncate or slightly cordate.

Inflorescences

extra-axillary or leaf-opposed, unbranched, usually umbel-like, 3–10-flowered, 0.5–3 cm.

terminal, becoming lateral, extra-axillary, much-branched, to 100+-flowered, to 25+ cm.

Pedicels

erect or spreading, 0.3–1 cm in flower, to 1.5 cm in fruit.

inserted into small sleeve on inflorescence axis, 0.8–1.4 cm in flower and 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.

radially symmetric;

calyx not accrescent, unarmed, ca. 0.5 mm, nearly truncate, glabrous or sparsely pubescent on lobe tips;

corolla purple, stellate, 1–2.5 cm diam., with sparse interpetalar tissue;

stamens unequal due to unequal filaments;

anthers ellipsoidal, 2–3 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores;

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.

bright shiny red, globose, 0.8–1.5 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules.

Seeds

pale yellow to brown, 1–1.5 × 0.5–1.5 mm, minutely pitted.

pale yellowish tan, flattened, 4–4.5 × 2.5-3 mm, minutely pitted.

Climbing

or scrambling vines, woody, unarmed, to ca. 3 m, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, hairs white, unbranched, ca. 0.2 mm.

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Solanum americanum

Solanum seaforthianum

Phenology Flowering May–Nov (year-round in Fla.). Flowering year-round.
Habitat Weedy habitats, secondary forest, disturbed areas. Disturbed sites.
Elevation 0–1000(–2000) m. (0–3300(–6600) ft.) 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
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]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; Mexico; West Indies; Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama); South America (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela) [Introduced in North America; introduced also elsewhere in South America (Argentina, Paraguay, Peru), Asia, Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Solanum seaforthianum is widely cultivated as an ornamental and sporadically escapes in Florida. A similar species with twining petioles, S. laxum Sprengel, is occasionally cultivated in California. It is distinguished from S. seaforthianum by having tufts of hairs in the vein axils of the abaxial leaf surfaces, white rather than violet corollas, and equal stamens.

(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
S. aviculare, S. bahamense, S. campechiense, S. capsicoides, S. carolinense, S. chenopodioides, S. citrullifolium, S. cordicitum, S. davisense, S. deflexum, S. dimidiatum, S. diphyllum, S. donianum, S. douglasii, S. dulcamara, S. elaeagnifolium, S. emulans, S. erianthum, S. furcatum, S. hindsianum, S. interius, S. jamaicense, S. jamesii, S. laciniatum, S. lanceolatum, S. lumholtzianum, S. lycopersicum, S. marginatum, S. mauritianum, S. nigrescens, S. nigrum, S. nitidibaccatum, S. novomexicanum, S. perplexum, S. pseudocapsicum, S. pseudogracile, S. pumilum, S. rostratum, S. sarrachoides, S. seaforthianum, S. setigeroides, S. sisymbriifolium, S. stoloniferum, S. tampicense, S. tenuipes, S. torvum, S. triflorum, S. triquetrum, S. umbelliferum, S. viarum, S. wallacei
S. americanum, S. aviculare, S. bahamense, S. campechiense, S. capsicoides, S. carolinense, S. chenopodioides, S. citrullifolium, S. cordicitum, S. davisense, S. deflexum, S. dimidiatum, S. diphyllum, S. donianum, S. douglasii, S. dulcamara, S. elaeagnifolium, S. emulans, S. erianthum, S. furcatum, S. hindsianum, S. interius, S. jamaicense, S. jamesii, S. laciniatum, S. lanceolatum, S. lumholtzianum, S. lycopersicum, S. marginatum, S. mauritianum, S. nigrescens, S. nigrum, S. nitidibaccatum, S. novomexicanum, S. perplexum, S. pseudocapsicum, S. pseudogracile, S. pumilum, S. rostratum, S. sarrachoides, S. setigeroides, S. sisymbriifolium, S. stoloniferum, S. tampicense, S. tenuipes, S. torvum, S. triflorum, S. triquetrum, S. umbelliferum, S. viarum, S. wallacei
Synonyms S. nigrum var. americanum, S. nigrum var. nodiflorum, S. nodiflorum, S. ptychanthum
Name authority Miller: Gard. Dict. ed. 8 Solanum no. 5. (1768) Andrews: Bot. Repos. 8: plate 504. (1808)
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