Solanum pseudocapsicum |
Solanum emulans |
|
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Jerusalem cherry, Jerusalem- or winter-cherry, Jerusalem-cherry nightshade |
eastern black nightshade, eastern nightshade |
|
Habit | Shrubs, erect, unarmed, to 1 m, glabrous to densely pubescent, hairs dendritically branched. | Herbs or shrubs, annual or perennial, erect, unarmed, to 1 m, glabrous to sparsely or rarely densely pubescent, hairs unbranched, to 1 mm, eglandular. |
Leaves | petiolate; petiole 0.2–1 cm; blade simple, elliptic, 1–9 × 0.5–4.5 cm, margins entire, base acute to attenuate. |
petiolate; petiole 1–5 cm; blade simple, ovate to elliptic, 4.5–10.5 × 2–6 cm, margins entire to sinuate-dentate, base attenuate to rounded. |
Inflorescences | leaf-opposed, unbranched, 1–8-flowered, 0.2–1 cm. |
extra-axillary, unbranched, umbel-like, (2–)3–6-flowered, 1–2.5 cm. |
Pedicels | 0.3–0.7 cm in flower, 0.8–1 cm and erect in fruit. |
straight and spreading in flower and recurved to reflexed in fruit, 0.5–1 cm. |
Flowers | 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 not accrescent, unarmed, 2–3 mm, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, lobes appressed in fruit, deltate; corolla white, sometimes with yellow central star, rarely purplish, stellate, 0.5–1 cm diam., without interpetalar tissue; stamens equal; anthers ellipsoidal, 1–1.5 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits; ovary glabrous. |
Berries | yellow to orange or red, globose, 1–2 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules. |
dull or slightly shiny purplish black, globose, 0.5–1 cm diam., glabrous, with 6–9 sclerotic granules per fruit. |
Seeds | yellowish, flattened with thickened margins, 3–4 × 2.5–3 mm, minutely pitted. |
yellowish, flattened, 1.5–2 × 1–1.5 mm, finely reticulate. |
2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
Solanum pseudocapsicum |
Solanum emulans |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Sep. | Flowering May–Oct. |
Habitat | Disturbed sites. | Moist, open woodlands, stream banks, fields, roadsides, disturbed areas. |
Elevation | 0–1000 m. (0–3300 ft.) | 0–700(–1700) m. (0–2300(–5600) ft.) |
Distribution |
FL; TX; Mexico; Central America; South America; often escaped in tropical and subtropical countries worldwide [Introduced in North America]
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AL; AR; AZ; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; WY; BC; MB; NB; ON; QC; SK
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Discussion | 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.) |
Solanum emulans has often been called S. ptychanthum Dunal (with the variant spelling ptycanthum), but that name is a synonym of S. americanum. Solanum emulans is the most common species in the black nightshade group in northeastern North America. It can be distinguished from other North American species in the black nightshade group by its unbranched inflorescences, short anthers, appressed fruiting calyx lobes, and numerous sclerotic granules in the fruits. (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. capsicastrum | S. nigrum var. virginicum |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 184. (1753) | Rafinesque: Autik. Bot., 107. (1840) |
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