Solanum dulcamara
Solanum perplexum
bitter nightshade, bittersweet, bittersweet nightshade, blue bindweed, climbing nightshade, European bittersweet, felonwort
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 1–6 cm;
blade simple, broadly ovate, 7–22 × 8–18 cm, margins shallowly to deeply lobed with 2–5 lobes per side, lobe margins entire to coarsely lobed, base truncate to cuneate and often oblique.
terminal or lateral, extra-axillary, much-branched, 7–40-flowered, (1–)4–15 cm.
extra-axillary, forked to several times branched, to 15-flowered, 7–15 cm.
inserted into a small sleeve on the inflorescence axis, 0.6–1.2 cm in flower and fruit.
1–2 cm in flower, curved downward and to ca. 2.4 cm in fruit.
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 not accrescent, unarmed or sparsely prickled, 7–13 mm, densely stellate-pubescent, lobes ovate-lanceolate;
corolla lavender, stellate to stellate-pentagonal or rotate-stellate, 2–4.4 cm diam., with sparse to moderate interpetalar tissue at margins and base of lobes;
stamens equal;
anthers narrow and tapered, 4–10 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores;
ovary glabrous.
bright shiny red, globose to ellipsoidal, 0.5–1.5 × 0.5–1 cm, glabrous, without sclerotic granules.
yellow, subglobose, 1.8–3.5 × 2–4 cm, glabrous, without sclerotic granules.
pale yellow or tan, flattened, 2–3 mm diam., minutely pitted.
yellow, flattened, ca. 2 × 2.5 mm, 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.
= ca. 72.
Solanum dulcamara
Solanum perplexum
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.)
Solanum perplexum is similar to S. dimidiatum and was placed in synonymy with S. dimidiatum by W. G. D’Arcy (1974). The two species can be distinguished by their indumentum [golden stellate hairs with six to eight (rarely as few as four) lateral rays with the central ray one- or two-celled and longer than lateral rays in S. perplexum versus whitish stellate hairs with six to ten (rarely as few as four) lateral rays with the central ray one-celled and equal to or shorter than lateral rays in S. dimidiatum], the larger prickles on the stems and leaves (up to 15 mm in S. perplexum versus up to 6.5 mm in S. dimidiatum), and the larger leaves (up to 22 × 18 cm in S. perplexum versus up to 16 × 10 cm in S. dimidiatum).
Solanum perplexum occurs mainly in the region where the borders of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia meet, with a single outlying population known from western Mississippi.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
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- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
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