Solanum mauritianum |
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earleaf nightshade |
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Habit | Shrubs or small trees, erect, unarmed, 2–12 m, densely pubescent, hairs white, sessile to long-stalked, stellate to echinoid. |
Leaves | petiolate; petiole 1–8 cm; blade simple, elliptic to ovate, 11–31 × 4–14 cm, margins entire, base acute, often with smaller axillary leaves. |
Inflorescences | terminal, becoming leaf-opposed, much-branched, 50–100-flowered, 5–24 cm. |
Pedicels | erect and 0.2–0.5 cm in flower and fruit. |
Flowers | radially symmetric; calyx slightly accrescent, unarmed, 4–7.5 mm, densely pubescent, lobes deltate; corolla purple, stellate-pentagonal, 1–1.5 cm diam., with abundant interpetalar tissue; stamens equal; anthers oblong, 2–3.5 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits; ovary tomentose. |
Berries | yellow, globose, 1–1.5 cm diam., tomentose, without sclerotic granules. |
Seeds | yellowish brown, flattened, 1.5–2.5 × 1.5–2 mm, minutely pitted. |
2n | = 24. |
Solanum mauritianum |
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Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jul. |
Habitat | Disturbed sites. |
Elevation | 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; FL; South America (Brazil, Uruguay) [Introduced also in Asia (India), Africa, Atlantic Islands, Indian Ocean Islands, Pacific Islands, Australia] |
Discussion | In Florida, Solanum mauritianum has become naturalized and common only at one site in Pasco County. It also occurs frequently in southern California from Santa Barbara south to San Diego with urban waifs in the Bay Area. It appears to be spreading into relatively undisturbed riparian areas in the San Gabriel Mountains and may become a widespread pest. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 14. |
Parent taxa | Solanaceae > Solanum |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | S. auriculatum |
Name authority | Scopoli: Delic. Fl. Faun. Insubr. 3: 16, plate 8. (1788) |
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