Solanum furcatum
Solanum jamesii
coast nightshade, fork nightshade
wild potato
petiolate;
petiole 1–3.5 cm;
blade simple, ovate-lanceolate, 3–10 × 2–5 cm, margins entire to sinuate-dentate, base cuneate to truncate.
petiolate;
petiole 1.5–3.5 cm, sometimes with pair of pinnatifid pseudostipules at base;
blade compound, elliptic to ovate, 7–15 × 4–9 cm, margins divided into 1–4(–5) pairs of leaflets, leaflet margins entire, base attenuate.
extra-axillary, forked, umbel-like or racemelike, 6–14-flowered, 1.5–3 cm.
terminal, extra-axillary, generally forked or 3-fid, 4–10(–20)-flowered, to 3 cm.
straight and spreading and 0.5–1 cm in flower, strongly reflexed and 0.5–1 cm in fruit.
articulated near middle, 1.6–3 cm in flower and 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.
radially symmetric;
calyx not accrescent, unarmed, 4–6 mm, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, lobes deltate-acuminate;
corolla white, stellate, 2.8–3.5 cm diam., without interpetalar tissue;
stamens equal;
anthers oblong, slightly tapered, 5–6 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.
green, globose, ca. 1 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules.
pale yellow to light brown, flattened, 1.5–2 × 1–1.5 mm, finely reticulate.
dark reddish brown, rounded, 1–2 mm diam., rugose.
= 72.
= 24.
Solanum furcatum
Solanum jamesii
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.)
The tubers of Solanum jamesii have been gathered as food by Native Americans, and starch grains identified as S. jamesii from stone tools in Utah form the earliest evidence for the use of potatoes in North America (L. A. Louderback and B. M. Pavlik 2017). All other parts of the plant are toxic.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
