Solanum dulcamara |
Solanum aviculare |
|
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bitter nightshade, bittersweet, bittersweet nightshade, blue bindweed, climbing nightshade, European bittersweet, felonwort |
New Zealand nightshade |
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Habit | Shrubs, erect, unarmed, 1–4 m, glabrous. | |
Leaves | 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. |
petiolate; petiole 1–1.5 cm; blade simple, elliptic, 10–30 × 2–15 cm, margins entire or coarsely pinnatifid with 1–3 lobes per side, lobe margins entire, base cuneate. |
Inflorescences | terminal or lateral, extra-axillary, much-branched, 7–40-flowered, (1–)4–15 cm. |
leaf-opposed or in branch fork, unbranched or forked, to 10-flowered, to 15 cm. |
Pedicels | inserted into a small sleeve on the inflorescence axis, 0.6–1.2 cm in flower and fruit. |
1.5–2 cm in flower and fruit. |
Flowers | 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. |
radially symmetric; calyx somewhat accrescent, unarmed, 3–4 mm, glabrous, lobes deltate; corolla blue to deep purple, rotate-stellate, lobes acute at apex, 3–4 cm diam., with abundant interpetalar tissue; stamens equal; anthers oblong, slightly tapered, 3–4 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that sometimes open into longitudinal slits; ovary glabrous. |
Berries | bright shiny red, globose to ellipsoidal, 0.5–1.5 × 0.5–1 cm, glabrous, without sclerotic granules. |
bright orange to red, obovoid to ellipsoidal, 1.5–2 × 1–1.5 cm, glabrous, with sclerotic granules inconspicuous to absent. |
Seeds | pale yellow or tan, flattened, 2–3 mm diam., minutely pitted. |
reddish brown, flattened, 1.5–2 × 1.5–2 mm, finely reticulate. |
Vines | , climbing or scrambling, herbaceous or woody, unarmed, to 8–10 m, sparsely to densely pubescent, hairs unbranched and/or dendritic, rarely glabrous. |
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2n | = 24. |
= 46. |
Solanum dulcamara |
Solanum aviculare |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Nov. | Flowering Jan–Jul. |
Habitat | Weedy, in a wide variety of habitats, often associated with water. | Open, disturbed sites. |
Elevation | 0–2000 m. (0–6600 ft.) | 0–2000 m. (0–6600 ft.) |
Distribution |
AL; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SD; TN; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; Eurasia
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CA; OR; Pacific Islands (New Guinea, New Zealand); Australia [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | 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.) |
The name Solanum laciniatum Aiton has been misapplied to S. aviculare (for example, M. Nee 1993). Although only S. aviculare is listed in that treatment as occurring in California, both S. aviculare and S. laciniatum apparently are found there, and most photos labeled S. aviculare on the CalFlora website are of S. laciniatum. Solanum laciniatum has notched and ruffled corolla lobes with abundant interpetalar tissue (versus acute and entire corolla lobes with little interpetalar tissue in S. aviculare) and yellow fruits (versus red) with numerous stone cells (versus stone cells inconspicuous to absent). Solanum aviculare and S. laciniatum have been introduced from Australia and New Zealand as ornamentals and now are found in scattered localities in California, especially near the coast. Some plants have escaped and become naturalized, and these species have the potential to be invasive in the future. (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. dulcamara var. villosissimum | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 185. (1753) | G. Forster: Pl. Esc., 42. (1786) |
Web links |
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