Solanum nigrescens |
Solanum tenuipes |
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divine nightshade |
fancy nightshade |
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Habit | Herbs, perennial, erect to somewhat sprawling, unarmed, to 3 m, nearly glabrous to moderately pubescent, hairs unbranched, to 1 mm, eglandular. | Herbs, perennial, spreading, moderately to densely armed, 0.2–0.5 m, prickles pale, straight, to 8 mm, glabrate to sparsely or moderately pubescent, hairs unbranched, glandular or eglandular, abaxial leaf surfaces with some sessile stellate hairs, 4–6-rayed, central ray equal to lateral rays. | ||||
Leaves | 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 2–6 cm; blade simple to 2–3 times lobed to compound, broadly ovate to elliptic, 4–9 × 2–7 cm, margins 2–3 times lobed to 2–3 times divided with 2–3 main leaflets per side, leaflets lobed to pinnately dissected, base truncate. |
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Inflorescences | extra-axillary or leaf-opposed, unbranched, umbel-like to racemelike, (2–)5–10-flowered, 1–3.5 cm. |
extra-axillary, unbranched, 6–9-flowered, 4–9 cm. |
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Pedicels | spreading and 0.5–1 cm in flower, spreading and 1–1.5 cm in fruit. |
1–2 cm in flower, erect and 2–3 cm in fruit. |
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Flowers | 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. |
bilaterally symmetric; calyx accrescent and almost completely and tightly covering fruit, moderately to densely prickly, 4–6 mm, sparsely to moderately pubescent, lobes linear to lanceolate; corolla violet or blue, stellate, 2.5–3.5 cm diam., with sparse interpetalar tissue; stamens unequal, lowermost much longer and curved; anthers narrow and tapered, dehiscent by terminal pores, short anthers 7–10 mm, longer anther 12–20 mm; ovary glabrous. |
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Berries | dull green or purplish, globose, 0.5–0.8 cm diam., glabrous, with (4–)5–6(–13) sclerotic granules. |
brown, globose to depressed-globose, 0.7–1 cm diam., glabrous, dry, without sclerotic granules. |
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Seeds | tan, flattened, 1.2–1.5 × 1–1.1 mm, finely pitted. |
dark brown, plump, 2.8–3.6 × 2–3 mm, minutely pitted and irregularly ridged. |
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2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
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Solanum nigrescens |
Solanum tenuipes |
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Phenology | Flowering year-round. | |||||
Habitat | Deciduous and coniferous forests, fields, swampy areas. | |||||
Elevation | 0–1500 m. (0–4900 ft.) | |||||
Distribution |
AL; FL; LA; MS; NC; NM; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; West Indies
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nc Mexico; Texas |
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Discussion | 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.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 14. | FNA vol. 14. | ||||
Parent taxa | Solanaceae > Solanum | Solanaceae > Solanum | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | M. Martens & Galeotti: Bull. Acad. Roy. Sci. Bruxelles 12(1): 140. (1845) | Bartlett: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 44: 629. (1909) | ||||
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