Flora of North America species comparison

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Solanum jamesii

wild potato
Habit Herbs, perennial, erect, unarmed, bearing tubers to 2 cm long, to 0.5 m, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, hairs unbranched, gland-tipped.
Leaves

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.
Inflorescences

terminal, extra-axillary, generally forked or 3-fid, 4–10(–20)-flowered, to 3 cm.
Pedicels

articulated near middle, 1.6–3 cm in flower and fruit.
Flowers

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.
Berries

green, globose, ca. 1 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules.
Seeds

dark reddish brown, rounded, 1–2 mm diam., rugose.
2n

= 24.

Solanum jamesii
Phenology Flowering Jun–Oct.
Habitat Hillsides, stream bottoms, sandy soils, disturbed grasslands, pinyon-juniper forests, oak thickets, coniferous and deciduous forests.
Elevation 1300–2900 m. (4300–9500 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; TX; UT; Mexico (Chihuahua, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)
Source FNA vol. 14.
Parent taxa Solanaceae > Solanum
Sibling taxa
S. americanum, S. aviculare, S. bahamense, S. campechiense, S. capsicoides, S. carolinense, S. chenopodioides, S. citrullifolium, S. cordicitum, S. davisense, S. deflexum, S. dimidiatum, S. diphyllum, S. donianum, S. douglasii, S. dulcamara, S. elaeagnifolium, S. emulans, S. erianthum, S. furcatum, S. hindsianum, S. interius, S. jamaicense, S. laciniatum, S. lanceolatum, S. lumholtzianum, S. lycopersicum, S. marginatum, S. mauritianum, S. nigrescens, S. nigrum, S. nitidibaccatum, S. novomexicanum, S. perplexum, S. pseudocapsicum, S. pseudogracile, S. pumilum, S. rostratum, S. sarrachoides, S. seaforthianum, S. setigeroides, S. sisymbriifolium, S. stoloniferum, S. tampicense, S. tenuipes, S. torvum, S. triflorum, S. triquetrum, S. umbelliferum, S. viarum, S. wallacei
Name authority Torrey: Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York 2: 227. (1827)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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