Solanum elaeagnifolium |
Solanum carolinense |
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horse nettle, silver-leaf nightshade, white horse-nettle |
apple of sodom, bull nettle, Carolina horse-nettle, Carolina nightshade, devil's tomato, horse nettle |
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Habit | Herbs or shrubs, perennial, erect, rhizomatous, sparsely to densely armed, to 1 m, prickles orange to brown, straight, to 5 mm, densely silvery-pubescent, hairs sessile or subsessile, stellate, scalelike, 10–15-rayed, central ray shorter than lateral rays, lateral rays fused at center. | Herbs or shrubs, perennial, erect, sparsely to moderately armed, to 1.2 m, prickles cream to yellowish, straight, to 6 mm, sparsely to densely pubescent, hairs white to cream, sessile to short-stalked, stellate, 4(–8)-rayed, central ray 1–3(–5)-celled and to 3 mm, longer than lateral rays. | ||||
Leaves | petiolate; petiole 1–5 cm; blade simple, lanceolate to oblong, 5–15 × 0.5–3 cm, margins undulate, subentire to sinuate or shallowly lobed, lobe margins entire, base truncate to cuneate. |
petiolate; petiole 0.4–4 cm; blade simple, ovate, lanceolate, or elliptic, 2–15 × 2–10 cm, margins subentire, sinuate, or lobed with 1–4 lobes per side, sometimes very deeply lobed almost to midrib, lobe margins entire to coarsely lobed, base cuneate. |
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Inflorescences | extra-axillary, unbranched, 3–5(–7)-flowered, 3–5 cm. |
extra-axillary, unbranched or rarely forked, 2–12-flowered, 2–9 cm. |
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Pedicels | 1–3 cm in flower, reflexed and 1–3 cm in fruit. |
0.5–1 cm in flower, 1.2–1.8 cm and curved downward in fruit. |
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Flowers | radially symmetric; calyx not accrescent, unarmed or with sparse prickles, 5–10 mm, densely silvery-stellate-pubescent, lobes linear-lanceolate; corolla pale to deep blue or violet, rarely white, pentagonal-stellate, 2–3(–3.5) cm diam., with abundant interpetalar tissue; stamens equal; anthers narrow and tapered, 6–9 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores; ovary glabrous to densely stellate-pubescent. |
radially symmetric; calyx somewhat accrescent, unarmed or with sparse prickles, 5–8 mm, moderately stellate-pubescent, lobes lanceolate to elliptic-acuminate; corolla white to pale blue or violet, stellate to stellate-pentagonal or rotate-stellate, 2–3 cm diam., with interpetalar tissue at margins and bases of lobes; stamens equal; anthers narrow and tapered, 4.5–6.5 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores; ovary glabrous or sparsely to moderately glandular-puberulent, rarely moderately pubescent, hairs white, stellate or simple. |
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Berries | yellow to orange, drying brown or black, globose, 0.5–1.5 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules. |
light green with darker green mottling or pale greenish white, turning bright yellow, subglobose to depressed-globose, 1–2 × 1–1.8 cm, glabrous, without sclerotic granules. |
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Seeds | yellowish, flattened, 3–5 × 2–4 mm, minutely pitted. |
yellow, flattened, 1.7–2.4 × 1.6–1.8 mm, minutely pitted. |
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2n | = 24, 48, 72. |
= 24. |
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Solanum elaeagnifolium |
Solanum carolinense |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Nov. | |||||
Habitat | Dry sites, open woods, disturbed areas, roadsides, railroads, fields. | |||||
Elevation | 0–2100 m. (0–6900 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; FL; GA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NE; NM; NV; OK; OR; SC; TN; TX; UT; WA; Mexico; West Indies; South America (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay) [Introduced elsewhere in South America (Colombia, Peru), Eurasia (Mediterranean, Middle East, India, Pakistan), Africa, Australia]
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North America [Introduced in Europe, Asia, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia]
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Discussion | Solanum elaeagnifolium has a disjunct native distribution. It occurs in arid regions of the southwestern United States and Mexico and also in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. North American plants are diploid, whereas those in Argentina are diploid, tetraploid, or hexaploid. It is invasive and considered a noxious weed in 21 states in the flora area as well as in many tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. It is toxic to livestock and can form large, rhizomatous patches that are difficult to eradicate. A white-flowered form has been recognized as Solanum elaeagnifolium forma albiflorum Cockerell. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 14. | FNA vol. 14. | ||||
Parent taxa | Solanaceae > Solanum | Solanaceae > Solanum | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | Cavanilles: Icon. 3: 22, plate 243. (1795) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 187. (1753) | ||||
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