Solanum pseudocapsicum
Solanum aviculare
Jerusalem cherry, Jerusalem- or winter-cherry, Jerusalem-cherry nightshade
New Zealand 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 1–1.5 cm;
blade simple, elliptic, 10–30 × 2–15 cm, margins entire or coarsely pinnatifid with 1–3 lobes per side, lobe margins entire, base cuneate.
leaf-opposed, unbranched, 1–8-flowered, 0.2–1 cm.
leaf-opposed or in branch fork, unbranched or forked, to 10-flowered, to 15 cm.
0.3–0.7 cm in flower, 0.8–1 cm and erect in fruit.
1.5–2 cm in flower and 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.
radially symmetric;
calyx somewhat accrescent, unarmed, 3–4 mm, glabrous, lobes deltate;
corolla blue to deep purple, rotate-stellate, lobes acute at apex, 3–4 cm diam., with abundant interpetalar tissue;
stamens equal;
anthers oblong, slightly tapered, 3–4 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that sometimes open into longitudinal slits;
ovary glabrous.
yellow to orange or red, globose, 1–2 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules.
bright orange to red, obovoid to ellipsoidal, 1.5–2 × 1–1.5 cm, glabrous, with sclerotic granules inconspicuous to absent.
yellowish, flattened with thickened margins, 3–4 × 2.5–3 mm, minutely pitted.
reddish brown, flattened, 1.5–2 × 1.5–2 mm, finely reticulate.
= 24.
= 46.
Solanum pseudocapsicum
Solanum aviculare
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.)
The name Solanum laciniatum Aiton has been misapplied to S. aviculare (for example, M. Nee 1993). Although only S. aviculare is listed in that treatment as occurring in California, both S. aviculare and S. laciniatum apparently are found there, and most photos labeled S. aviculare on the CalFlora website are of S. laciniatum. Solanum laciniatum has notched and ruffled corolla lobes with abundant interpetalar tissue (versus acute and entire corolla lobes with little interpetalar tissue in S. aviculare) and yellow fruits (versus red) with numerous stone cells (versus stone cells inconspicuous to absent).
Solanum aviculare and S. laciniatum have been introduced from Australia and New Zealand as ornamentals and now are found in scattered localities in California, especially near the coast. Some plants have escaped and become naturalized, and these species have the potential to be invasive in the future.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
