Solanum jamesii |
Solanum hindsianum |
|
---|---|---|
wild potato |
Hinds' nightshade, Hinds' or Baja or Sonoran nightshade |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, erect, unarmed, bearing tubers to 2 cm long, to 0.5 m, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, hairs unbranched, gland-tipped. | Shrubs, erect, unarmed to sparsely armed, 0.5–3 m, prickles reddish brown, straight, 2–15 mm, densely silvery-pubescent, hairs sessile to short-stalked, stellate, 8–12-rayed, central ray shorter than or equal to lateral rays. |
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. |
petiolate; petioles 0.5–1.5 cm; blade simple, ovate to elliptic, (1–)2–6.5 × (0.5–)1–3(–4.5) cm, margins entire or undulate, base rounded to truncate and usually oblique. |
Inflorescences | terminal, extra-axillary, generally forked or 3-fid, 4–10(–20)-flowered, to 3 cm. |
extra-axillary, unbranched, 3–4-flowered, 3–4 cm. |
Pedicels | articulated near middle, 1.6–3 cm in flower and fruit. |
0.4–1.5 cm in flower, erect and 1–2 cm in 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. |
radially symmetric; calyx not accrescent, unarmed, 8–10(–20) mm, densely stellate-pubescent, lobes long-triangular to linear-lanceolate; corolla violet, pentagonal, 2.5–4(–5) cm diam., with abundant interpetalar tissue; stamens equal or slightly unequal; anthers narrow and tapered, 6–10 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores; ovary glabrous. |
Berries | green, globose, ca. 1 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules. |
light green, sometimes with darker mottling, drying dark brown or reddish brown, globose, 1–1.5(–2) cm diam., glabrous, cracking open to expose seeds, without sclerotic granules. |
Seeds | dark reddish brown, rounded, 1–2 mm diam., rugose. |
dark brown, flattened, 2–3 mm diam., minutely pitted. |
2n | = 24. |
|
Solanum jamesii |
Solanum hindsianum |
|
Phenology | Flowering Jun–Oct. | Flowering Jan–Mar. |
Habitat | Hillsides, stream bottoms, sandy soils, disturbed grasslands, pinyon-juniper forests, oak thickets, coniferous and deciduous forests. | Rocky soils, hillsides. |
Elevation | 1300–2900 m. (4300–9500 ft.) | 500–600 m. (1600–2000 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; TX; UT; Mexico (Chihuahua, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Sonora)
|
AZ; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Sonora)
|
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.) |
Solanum hindsianum is endemic to the Sonoran Desert of extreme southern Arizona and northern Mexico. In Arizona, it is known only from Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. (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 | ||
Name authority | Torrey: Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York 2: 227. (1827) | Bentham: Bot. Voy. Sulphur, 39. (1844) |
Web links |