Solanum dulcamara |
Solanum erianthum |
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bitter nightshade, bittersweet, bittersweet nightshade, blue bindweed, climbing nightshade, European bittersweet, felonwort |
mullein nightshade, potato tree |
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Habit | Shrubs or small trees, erect, unarmed, 2–8 m, densely pubescent, hairs sessile to short-stalked, stellate to echinoid. | |
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 1–10 cm; blade simple, elliptic to ovate, 10–25 × 3–15 cm, margins entire, base rounded or acute. |
Inflorescences | terminal or lateral, extra-axillary, much-branched, 7–40-flowered, (1–)4–15 cm. |
terminal, becoming leaf-opposed, much-branched, 10–50-flowered, 5–20 cm. |
Pedicels | inserted into a small sleeve on the inflorescence axis, 0.6–1.2 cm in flower and fruit. |
0.2–0.6 cm in flower, erect and 0.4–10 cm in 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 accrescent and subtending fruit, unarmed, 5–7 mm, densely pubescent, hairs stellate to echinoid, lobes broadly triangular; corolla white, stellate, 1–2 cm diam., without interpetalar tissue; stamens equal; anthers oblong, 2.5–3.5 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits; ovary tomentose, hairs stellate or echinoid. |
Berries | bright shiny red, globose to ellipsoidal, 0.5–1.5 × 0.5–1 cm, glabrous, without sclerotic granules. |
yellow to orange, globose, 1–2 cm diam., densely pubescent, without sclerotic granules. |
Seeds | pale yellow or tan, flattened, 2–3 mm diam., minutely pitted. |
yellowish brown, flattened, 1.5–2 × 1–1.5 mm, minutely pitted. |
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. |
= 24. |
Solanum dulcamara |
Solanum erianthum |
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Phenology | Flowering May–Nov. | Flowering Apr–Oct (year-round in Fla.). |
Habitat | Weedy, in a wide variety of habitats, often associated with water. | Hammocks, pinelands, disturbed sites. |
Elevation | 0–2000 m. (0–6600 ft.) | 0–100 m. (0–300 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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FL; TX; Mexico; Central America; West Indies; South America (Colombia) [Introduced in Asia, Africa, Pacific Islands (including the Galapagos Islands), Australia]
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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.) |
In the United States, Solanum erianthum is common only in central to southern Florida and in extreme southern Texas near the Gulf of Mexico. The name Solanum verbascifolium Linnaeus has been widely misapplied to S. erianthum (K. E. Roe 1968), but is a synonym of S. donianum that has now been rejected. (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) | D. Don: Prodr. Fl. Nepal., 96. (1825) |
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