Solanum erianthum |
Solanum novomexicanum |
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mullein nightshade, potato tree |
New Mexico nightshade |
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Habit | Shrubs or small trees, erect, unarmed, 2–8 m, densely pubescent, hairs sessile to short-stalked, stellate to echinoid. | Herbs, annual, spreading, sparsely to moderately armed, 0.3–0.7 m, prickles whitish or yellowish, straight, tapered, 3–8 mm, usually 20 or fewer per cm of stem, densely pubescent with stipitate-glandular hairs 0.2–0.4 mm, abaxial leaf surfaces also with scattered, sessile, 4–6-rayed, stellate hairs, central ray equal to lateral rays. |
Leaves | petiolate; petiole 1–10 cm; blade simple, elliptic to ovate, 10–25 × 3–15 cm, margins entire, base rounded or acute. |
petiolate; petiole 2–7 cm; blade simple to compound, broadly ovate to deltate, 4–11 × 4–8 cm, margins bipinnately lobed to divided with 2–3 main leaflets per side, leaflets with obtuse or rounded lobes, base truncate. |
Inflorescences | terminal, becoming leaf-opposed, much-branched, 10–50-flowered, 5–20 cm. |
extra-axillary, unbranched, 5–9-flowered, 4–10 cm. |
Pedicels | 0.2–0.6 cm in flower, erect and 0.4–10 cm in fruit. |
1–1.5 cm in flower, erect and 1–1.5 cm in fruit. |
Flowers | 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. |
bilaterally symmetric; calyx accrescent and tightly covering fruit, densely prickly, 4.5–6.5 mm, densely glandular-pubescent, lobes lanceolate; corolla violet or blue, pentagonal-stellate, with narrowly deltate lobes, 1–1.5 cm diam., with sparse interpetalar tissue; stamens unequal, lowermost much longer and curved; anthers narrow and tapered, dehiscent by terminal pores, short anthers 2–4 mm, longer anther 3.5–5 mm; ovary glabrous. |
Berries | yellow to orange, globose, 1–2 cm diam., densely pubescent, without sclerotic granules. |
brown, globose, 1–1.2 cm diam., glabrous, dry, without sclerotic granules. |
Seeds | yellowish brown, flattened, 1.5–2 × 1–1.5 mm, minutely pitted. |
dark brown, flattened, 2.5–3 × 2–2.5 mm, reticulately wrinkled or merely undulate. |
2n | = 24. |
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Solanum erianthum |
Solanum novomexicanum |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Oct (year-round in Fla.). | Flowering Jun–Sep. |
Habitat | Hammocks, pinelands, disturbed sites. | Gravelly or sandy soils, open hillsides, arroyo banks, roadsides. |
Elevation | 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) | 1900–2300 m. (6200–7500 ft.) |
Distribution |
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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NM |
Discussion | 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.) |
Solanum novomexicanum is uncommon and endemic to the mountains of northcentral New Mexico. (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. heterodoxum var. novomexicanum, Androcera novomexicana | |
Name authority | D. Don: Prodr. Fl. Nepal., 96. (1825) | (Bartlett) S. R. Stern: J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 8: 6. (2014) |
Web links |