Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Solanum chenopodioides

Solanum carolinense

tall nightshade, velvety nightshade, whitetip nightshade

apple of sodom, bull nettle, Carolina horse-nettle, Carolina nightshade, devil's tomato, horse nettle
Habit Herbs or shrubs, annual to short-lived perennial, erect or somewhat sprawling, unarmed, to 1 m, glabrescent to densely pubescent, hairs unbranched, to 1 mm, eglandular. Herbs or shrubs, perennial, erect, sparsely to moderately armed, to 1.2 m, prickles cream to yellowish, straight, to 6 mm, sparsely to densely pubescent, hairs white to cream, sessile to short-stalked, stellate, 4(–8)-rayed, central ray 1–3(–5)-celled and to 3 mm, longer than lateral rays.
Leaves

petiolate;

petiole 1–3 cm;

blade simple, narrowly ovate to elliptic, 1.5–5(–7) × 0.5–3.5 cm, margins entire or sinuate, base cuneate to decurrent.

petiolate;

petiole 0.4–4 cm;

blade simple, ovate, lanceolate, or elliptic, 2–15 × 2–10 cm, margins subentire, sinuate, or lobed with 1–4 lobes per side, sometimes very deeply lobed almost to midrib, lobe margins entire to coarsely lobed, base cuneate.
Inflorescences

extra-axillary or leaf-opposed, unbranched or rarely forked, umbel-like, 3–7(–10)-flowered, 1–3(–4) cm, fruiting peduncles sharply reflexed from base.

extra-axillary, unbranched or rarely forked, 2–12-flowered, 2–9 cm.
Pedicels

0.5–1 cm in flower and fruit, reflexed downward in fruit.

0.5–1 cm in flower, 1.2–1.8 cm and curved downward in fruit.
Flowers

radially symmetric;

calyx not accrescent, unarmed, 2–3.5 mm, sparsely pubescent, lobes deltate, appressed in fruit;

corolla white or purplish, with greenish, yellowish, or brown central star, stellate, 0.8–1.5 cm diam., with sparse interpetalar tissue;

stamens equal;

anthers ellipsoidal, 2–3 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits;

ovary glabrous.

radially symmetric;

calyx somewhat accrescent, unarmed or with sparse prickles, 5–8 mm, moderately stellate-pubescent, lobes lanceolate to elliptic-acuminate;

corolla white to pale blue or violet, stellate to stellate-pentagonal or rotate-stellate, 2–3 cm diam., with interpetalar tissue at margins and bases of lobes;

stamens equal;

anthers narrow and tapered, 4.5–6.5 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores;

ovary glabrous or sparsely to moderately glandular-puberulent, rarely moderately pubescent, hairs white, stellate or simple.
Berries

dull purplish black, globose, 0.5–1 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules.

light green with darker green mottling or pale greenish white, turning bright yellow, subglobose to depressed-globose, 1–2 × 1–1.8 cm, glabrous, without sclerotic granules.
Seeds

pale yellow, flattened, 1–1.5 × 1–1.5 mm, minutely pitted.

yellow, flattened, 1.7–2.4 × 1.6–1.8 mm, minutely pitted.
2n

= 24.

= 24.

Solanum chenopodioides

Solanum carolinense
Phenology Flowering May–Oct (year-round in Fla.).
Habitat Sandy soil, disturbed areas.
Elevation 0–2000 m. [0–6600 ft.]
Distribution
from FNA
CA; FL; GA; MD; MO; NC; WI; South America (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay) [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Europe, Africa, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
from USDA
North America [Introduced in Europe, Asia, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Solanum chenopodioides has been introduced sporadically and is occasionally adventive in North America. It is distinctive in having the fruiting peduncles strongly reflexed downward, but is otherwise difficult to distinguish from S. pseudogracile, with which it may be conspecific.

The illegitimate superfluous name Solanum gracile Dunal has often been used for S. chenopodioides (for example, J. K. Small 1913; A. E. Radford et al. 1968). W. G. D’Arcy (1974) included S. gracile (and its replacement name S. ottonis) in the synonymy of S. nigrescens but the taxa are distinct.

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

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf margins subentire, sinuate, or lobed, sinuses of lobes, when present, reaching less than 1/2 distance to midvein; apex of leaf lobes subacute to acute, sometimes rounded.
var. carolinense
1. Leaf margins deeply lobed, sinuses of lobes reaching more than 1/2 distance to midvein or almost to midvein; apex of leaf lobes typically rounded.
var. floridanum
Source FNA vol. 14. Treatment authors: Lynn Bohs1, 1The author wishes to acknowledge co-authorship with David M. Spooner† on S. jamesii and S. stoloniferum and with Sandra Knapp and Tiina Särkinen on the black nightshade species.. FNA vol. 14. Treatment authors: Lynn Bohs1, 1The author wishes to acknowledge co-authorship with David M. Spooner† on S. jamesii and S. stoloniferum and with Sandra Knapp and Tiina Särkinen on the black nightshade species..
Parent taxa Solanaceae > Solanum Solanaceae > Solanum
Sibling taxa
S. americanum, S. aviculare, S. bahamense, S. campechiense, S. capsicoides, S. carolinense, 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
S. carolinense var. carolinense, S. carolinense var. floridanum
Synonyms S. americanum var. baylisii, S. ottonis
Name authority Lamarck in J. Lamarck and J. Poiret: Tabl. Encycl. 2: 18. (1794) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 187. (1753)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers