Solanum nigrescens
Solanum lanceolatum
divine nightshade
lance leaf nightshade, orangeberry nightshade
petiolate;
petiole 0.5–2 cm;
blade simple, ovate to ovate-elliptic, 4–10.5 × 2–5 cm, margins entire or shallowly sinuate-dentate, base decurrent.
petiolate;
petiole 1.5–4 cm;
blade simple, ovate to elliptic, 5–25 × 3–15 cm, margins entire to shallowly lobed with 2–4 lobes per side, lobe margins entire to undulate, base obtuse to cordate.
extra-axillary or leaf-opposed, unbranched, umbel-like to racemelike, (2–)5–10-flowered, 1–3.5 cm.
extra-axillary, usually much-branched, 10–20-flowered, to 10 cm.
spreading and 0.5–1 cm in flower, spreading and 1–1.5 cm in fruit.
0.5–1 cm in flower, erect and 1–2 cm in fruit.
radially symmetric;
calyx not accrescent, unarmed, 1–2 mm, sparsely pubescent, lobes deltate;
corolla white, rarely purplish, often with green or purplish central star, stellate, 1–1.5 cm diam., with sparse interpetalar tissue;
stamens equal;
anthers ellipsoidal, 2–3 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits;
ovary glabrous.
radially symmetric;
calyx not accrescent, unarmed, 5–8 mm, densely stellate-pubescent, lobes triangular;
corolla usually blue to purple, rarely whitish, stellate to rotate-stellate, 2.5–4 cm diam., with abundant interpetalar tissue;
stamens equal;
anthers narrow and tapered, 6–8 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores;
ovary glabrous to stellate-pubescent.
dull green or purplish, globose, 0.5–0.8 cm diam., glabrous, with (4–)5–6(–13) sclerotic granules.
yellow to orange, globose, 0.7–1.5 cm diam., stellate-pubescent at apex, without sclerotic granules.
tan, flattened, 1.2–1.5 × 1–1.1 mm, finely pitted.
yellow to light brown, flattened, 2.5–3 × 2–2.5 mm, minutely pitted.
= 24.
Solanum nigrescens
Solanum lanceolatum
Solanum nigrescens is widespread in Central and northern South America and the Caribbean and extends northward into the southeastern United States along the Gulf Coast and slightly inland. Where sympatric with S. americanum, it can be distinguished by its longer anthers and dull green or purplish berries with appressed to spreading calyx lobes. Plants collected as weeds in rice and sugarcane fields of Louisiana and provisionally identified as the Chinese species S. merrillianum T. N. Liou are somewhat intermediate between S. americanum and S. nigrescens and could represent recent hybrid populations (S. Knapp et al. 2019). Solanum nigrescens differs from S. douglasii in its shorter anthers and longer filaments relative to anther length; moreover, S. douglasii is usually found west of the Rocky Mountains, whereas S. nigrescens occurs in the southeastern United States. The ranges of S. nigrescens and S. interius overlap (for example, in Texas). Solanum nigrescens may be distinguished from S. interius by its usually acute calyx lobes, smaller seeds, and more numerous sclerotic granules in the fruits. Solanum nigrescens differs from S. nigrum in its more slender peduncles and pedicels, smaller seeds, and fruits with sclerotic granules.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Solanum lanceolatum is naturalized along the California coast and inland in central and southern California, where it is listed as a noxious weed by the California Department of Agriculture.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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