Solanum elaeagnifolium |
Solanum tenuipes |
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horse nettle, silver-leaf nightshade, white horse-nettle |
fancy nightshade |
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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, perennial, spreading, moderately to densely armed, 0.2–0.5 m, prickles pale, straight, to 8 mm, glabrate to sparsely or moderately pubescent, hairs unbranched, glandular or eglandular, abaxial leaf surfaces with some sessile stellate hairs, 4–6-rayed, central ray equal to 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 2–6 cm; blade simple to 2–3 times lobed to compound, broadly ovate to elliptic, 4–9 × 2–7 cm, margins 2–3 times lobed to 2–3 times divided with 2–3 main leaflets per side, leaflets lobed to pinnately dissected, base truncate. |
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Inflorescences | extra-axillary, unbranched, 3–5(–7)-flowered, 3–5 cm. |
extra-axillary, unbranched, 6–9-flowered, 4–9 cm. |
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Pedicels | 1–3 cm in flower, reflexed and 1–3 cm in fruit. |
1–2 cm in flower, erect and 2–3 cm 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. |
bilaterally symmetric; calyx accrescent and almost completely and tightly covering fruit, moderately to densely prickly, 4–6 mm, sparsely to moderately pubescent, lobes linear to lanceolate; corolla violet or blue, stellate, 2.5–3.5 cm diam., with sparse interpetalar tissue; stamens unequal, lowermost much longer and curved; anthers narrow and tapered, dehiscent by terminal pores, short anthers 7–10 mm, longer anther 12–20 mm; ovary glabrous. |
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Berries | yellow to orange, drying brown or black, globose, 0.5–1.5 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules. |
brown, globose to depressed-globose, 0.7–1 cm diam., glabrous, dry, without sclerotic granules. |
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Seeds | yellowish, flattened, 3–5 × 2–4 mm, minutely pitted. |
dark brown, plump, 2.8–3.6 × 2–3 mm, minutely pitted and irregularly ridged. |
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2n | = 24, 48, 72. |
= 24. |
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Solanum elaeagnifolium |
Solanum tenuipes |
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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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nc Mexico; Texas |
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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) | Bartlett: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 44: 629. (1909) | ||||
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