Solanum furcatum
coast nightshade, fork nightshade
petiolate;
petiole 1–3.5 cm;
blade simple, ovate-lanceolate, 3–10 × 2–5 cm, margins entire to sinuate-dentate, base cuneate to truncate.
extra-axillary, forked, umbel-like or racemelike, 6–14-flowered, 1.5–3 cm.
straight and spreading and 0.5–1 cm in flower, strongly reflexed and 0.5–1 cm in fruit.
radially symmetric;
calyx not accrescent, unarmed, 3–4 mm, sparsely pubescent, lobes obtuse;
corolla white to pale purple with yellowish or greenish central star, stellate, 1–2 cm diam., with sparse interpetalar tissue;
stamens equal;
anthers ellipsoidal, 2.5–3.5 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits;
ovary glabrous.
dull green to purple, globose, 0.5–0.9 cm diam., glabrous, with 6–14 sclerotic granules per fruit.
pale yellow to light brown, flattened, 1.5–2 × 1–1.5 mm, finely reticulate.
= 72.
Solanum furcatum
Solanum furcatum is found in coastal environments in the western United States. M. Nee (1993) stated that the name S. gayanum (J. Remy) F. Philippi has been misapplied to plants of S. furcatum, but no basis can be found for this assertion and the two species are morphologically very different. Solanum gayanum, a synonym of S. crispum Ruiz & Pavon, and native to Chile, is cultivated and perhaps naturalized in San Francisco, California (P. A. Munz 1968).
Solanum furcatum can be distinguished from the similar and sympatric S. douglasii by its usually forked inflorescences and fruits with usually more than ten sclerotic granules. A distinctive character of S. furcatum is the long style that is about twice the length of the anthers.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
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Flora NW
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