Solanum chenopodioides |
Solanum novomexicanum |
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velvety nightshade, whitetip nightshade |
New Mexico nightshade |
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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, annual, spreading, sparsely to moderately armed, 0.3–0.7 m, prickles whitish or yellowish, straight, tapered, 3–8 mm, usually 20 or fewer per cm of stem, densely pubescent with stipitate-glandular hairs 0.2–0.4 mm, abaxial leaf surfaces also with scattered, sessile, 4–6-rayed, stellate hairs, central ray equal to 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 2–7 cm; blade simple to compound, broadly ovate to deltate, 4–11 × 4–8 cm, margins bipinnately lobed to divided with 2–3 main leaflets per side, leaflets with obtuse or rounded lobes, base truncate. |
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, 5–9-flowered, 4–10 cm. |
Pedicels | 0.5–1 cm in flower and fruit, reflexed downward in fruit. |
1–1.5 cm in flower, erect and 1–1.5 cm 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. |
bilaterally symmetric; calyx accrescent and tightly covering fruit, densely prickly, 4.5–6.5 mm, densely glandular-pubescent, lobes lanceolate; corolla violet or blue, pentagonal-stellate, with narrowly deltate lobes, 1–1.5 cm diam., with sparse interpetalar tissue; stamens unequal, lowermost much longer and curved; anthers narrow and tapered, dehiscent by terminal pores, short anthers 2–4 mm, longer anther 3.5–5 mm; ovary glabrous. |
Berries | dull purplish black, globose, 0.5–1 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules. |
brown, globose, 1–1.2 cm diam., glabrous, dry, without sclerotic granules. |
Seeds | pale yellow, flattened, 1–1.5 × 1–1.5 mm, minutely pitted. |
dark brown, flattened, 2.5–3 × 2–2.5 mm, reticulately wrinkled or merely undulate. |
2n | = 24. |
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Solanum chenopodioides |
Solanum novomexicanum |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Oct (year-round in Fla.). | Flowering Jun–Sep. |
Habitat | Sandy soil, disturbed areas. | Gravelly or sandy soils, open hillsides, arroyo banks, roadsides. |
Elevation | 0–2000 m. (0–6600 ft.) | 1900–2300 m. (6200–7500 ft.) |
Distribution |
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]
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NM |
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.) |
Solanum novomexicanum is uncommon and endemic to the mountains of northcentral New Mexico. (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. americanum var. baylisii, S. ottonis | S. heterodoxum var. novomexicanum, Androcera novomexicana |
Name authority | Lamarck in J. Lamarck and J. Poiret: Tabl. Encycl. 2: 18. (1794) | (Bartlett) S. R. Stern: J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 8: 6. (2014) |
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