Solanum mauritianum |
Solanum setigeroides |
|
---|---|---|
earleaf nightshade |
bristly nightshade |
|
Habit | Shrubs or small trees, erect, unarmed, 2–12 m, densely pubescent, hairs white, sessile to long-stalked, stellate to echinoid. | Herbs, annual, spreading, branching from near base, densely armed, 0.3–0.7 m, prickles straight, 4–8 mm, 30+ per cm of stem, sparsely pubescent, hairs ca. 0.2 mm, stipitate-glandular, abaxial leaf surfaces also with scattered, sessile, 4–6-rayed, stellate hairs, central ray equal to lateral rays. |
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. |
petiolate; petiole 2–7 cm; blade simple to compound, broadly ovate to deltate, 4–11 × 4–8 cm, margins twice-lobed to twice-divided with 2–3 main leaflets per side, leaflets with obtuse or rounded lobes, base truncate. |
Inflorescences | terminal, becoming leaf-opposed, much-branched, 50–100-flowered, 5–24 cm. |
extra-axillary, unbranched, 5–9-flowered, 4–10 cm. |
Pedicels | erect and 0.2–0.5 cm in flower and fruit. |
1–2 cm in flower, erect and 1–2 cm in 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. |
bilaterally symmetric; calyx accrescent and tightly covering fruit, densely prickly, 4.5–6.5 mm, sparsely glandular-pubescent, lobes lanceolate; corolla violet or blue, pentagonal, 1–1.5 cm diam., with abundant interpetalar tissue; stamens unequal, lowermost much longer and curved; anthers narrow and tapered, dehiscent by terminal pores, short anthers 2–4 mm, longer anther 3.5–5 mm; ovary glabrous. |
Berries | yellow, globose, 1–1.5 cm diam., tomentose, without sclerotic granules. |
brown, globose, 1–1.2 cm diam., glabrous, dry, without sclerotic granules. |
Seeds | yellowish brown, flattened, 1.5–2.5 × 1.5–2 mm, minutely pitted. |
dark brown, flattened, 2.5–3 × 2–2.5 mm, minutely pitted and weakly ridged or faceted. |
2n | = 24. |
|
Solanum mauritianum |
Solanum setigeroides |
|
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jul. | Flowering Jun–Oct. |
Habitat | Disturbed sites. | Silty, sandy, or gravelly soils, playas, dunes, streambeds, arroyos, open hillsides. |
Elevation | 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.) | 600–2000 m. (2000–6600 ft.) |
Distribution |
CA; FL; South America (Brazil, Uruguay) [Introduced also in Asia (India), Africa, Atlantic Islands, Indian Ocean Islands, Pacific Islands, Australia] |
AZ; NM; TX; Mexico (Chihuahua) |
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.) |
Solanum setigeroides is a weed of disturbed and overgrazed places ranging from central Arizona and New Mexico to extreme western Texas. (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 | ||
Synonyms | S. auriculatum | S. heterodoxum var. setigeroides |
Name authority | Scopoli: Delic. Fl. Faun. Insubr. 3: 16, plate 8. (1788) | (Whalen) S. R. Stern: J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 8: 5. (2014) |
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