Solanum chenopodioides
Solanum dulcamara
tall nightshade, velvety nightshade, whitetip nightshade
bitter nightshade, bittersweet, bittersweet nightshade, blue bindweed, climbing nightshade, European bittersweet, felonwort
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 0.5–5 cm;
blade simple, elliptic or ovate to cordate, 2.5–12 × 1.2–9 cm, margins entire to deeply pinnatifid and usually 3-lobed near base, lobe margins entire, base truncate to cordate.
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.
terminal or lateral, extra-axillary, much-branched, 7–40-flowered, (1–)4–15 cm.
0.5–1 cm in flower and fruit, reflexed downward in fruit.
inserted into a small sleeve on the inflorescence axis, 0.6–1.2 cm in flower and fruit.
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 not accrescent, unarmed, 1–2 mm, glabrous to densely pubescent, lobes triangular, shallow;
corolla purple (rarely white), with green and white shiny spots at base of each lobe, deeply stellate, 1.5–2 cm diam., without interpetalar tissue;
stamens equal;
anthers oblong, slightly tapered, 4.5–6 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that often open into longitudinal slits;
ovary glabrous.
dull purplish black, globose, 0.5–1 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules.
bright shiny red, globose to ellipsoidal, 0.5–1.5 × 0.5–1 cm, glabrous, without sclerotic granules.
pale yellow, flattened, 1–1.5 × 1–1.5 mm, minutely pitted.
pale yellow or tan, flattened, 2–3 mm diam., minutely pitted.
, climbing or scrambling, herbaceous or woody, unarmed, to 8–10 m, sparsely to densely pubescent, hairs unbranched and/or dendritic, rarely glabrous.
= 24.
= 24.
Solanum chenopodioides
Solanum dulcamara
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.)
Solanum dulcamara is widely distributed across Eurasia and boreal North America. The North American populations are thought to be introductions, but it is possible that the species has a truly circumboreal distribution. A white-flowered form has been recognized by some authors as S. dulcamara forma albiflorum House and an especially pubescent form as S. dulcamara var. villosissimum, but variation in a number of morphological features is continuous across the range of the species and these and other variants are not recognized in the latest monograph of the group (S. Knapp 2013).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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