Solanum pseudocapsicum
Solanum citrullifolium
Jerusalem cherry, Jerusalem- or winter-cherry, Jerusalem-cherry nightshade
melon-leaf nightshade, watermelon nightshade
petiolate;
petiole 0.2–1 cm;
blade simple, elliptic, 1–9 × 0.5–4.5 cm, margins entire, base acute to attenuate.
petiolate;
petiole 2–7 cm;
blade simple to compound, broadly ovate, 4–10(–15) × 3–8 cm, margins bipinnately lobed or divided with 3–4 main leaflets per side, these with obtuse or rounded lobes, base truncate.
leaf-opposed, unbranched, 1–8-flowered, 0.2–1 cm.
extra-axillary, unbranched, 4–10-flowered, 3–11 cm.
0.3–0.7 cm in flower, 0.8–1 cm and erect in fruit.
1–2 cm in flower, 1–2 cm and erect in fruit.
radially symmetric;
calyx somewhat accrescent, unarmed, 2.5–6 mm, glabrous to densely pubescent with dendritic hairs, lobes long-triangular;
corolla white, stellate, 1–1.5(–2.5) cm diam., without interpetalar tissue;
stamens equal;
anthers oblong, 3–4 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits;
ovary glabrous.
bilaterally symmetric;
calyx accrescent and tightly covering fruit, densely prickly, 2.5–3.8 mm, densely glandular-pubescent, lobes linear-lanceolate;
corolla violet or blue, pentagonal-stellate, 2.5–3.5 cm diam., with interpetalar tissue at margins and bases of lobes;
stamens unequal, lowermost much longer and curved;
anthers narrow and tapered, dehiscent by terminal pores, short anthers yellow, 6–10 mm, longer anther purplish, 11–16 mm;
ovary glabrous.
yellow to orange or red, globose, 1–2 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules.
brown, globose, 0.8–1.2 cm diam., glabrous, dry, without sclerotic granules.
yellowish, flattened with thickened margins, 3–4 × 2.5–3 mm, minutely pitted.
dark brown, flattened, 2.3–3 × 2–2.5 mm, reticulately wrinkled, ridged, or undulate.
= 24.
= 24.
Solanum pseudocapsicum
Solanum citrullifolium
Solanum pseudocapsicum is native from Mexico to Argentina, southern Brazil, and Uruguay. It is grown as an ornamental for its showy fruits, especially around Christmas. It occasionally escapes from cultivation in southern Florida and Texas. In Texas, it has become established and fairly common in Austin, in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and in Goliad and Caldwell counties. Cultivated forms are usually glabrous, but some can have branched pubescence. The fruits are mildly poisonous when ingested by humans but can be highly toxic to dogs and some birds.
Solanum pseudocapsicum, along with S. diphyllum, has a distinctive leaf arrangement in which a longer, narrower leaf is paired with a shorter, often more rounded one.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
North American plants identified as Solanum heterodoxum Dunal are largely misidentifications of S. citrullifolium. Solanum heterodoxum in the current sense is now restricted to Mexico.
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Stems scattered-prickly with fewer than 20 prickles per cm of stem; prickles often to 1 mm diam. at base; stems densely glandular-pubescent. | var. citrullifolium |
1. Stems densely bristly with 25+ bristles per cm of stem; bristles mostly less than 0.5 mm diam. at base; stems sparsely glandular-pubescent. | var. setigerum |
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
