Solanum pseudocapsicum
Solanum erianthum
Jerusalem cherry, Jerusalem- or winter-cherry, Jerusalem-cherry nightshade
mullein nightshade, potato tree
petiolate;
petiole 0.2–1 cm;
blade simple, elliptic, 1–9 × 0.5–4.5 cm, margins entire, base acute to attenuate.
petiolate;
petiole 1–10 cm;
blade simple, elliptic to ovate, 10–25 × 3–15 cm, margins entire, base rounded or acute.
leaf-opposed, unbranched, 1–8-flowered, 0.2–1 cm.
terminal, becoming leaf-opposed, much-branched, 10–50-flowered, 5–20 cm.
0.3–0.7 cm in flower, 0.8–1 cm and erect in fruit.
0.2–0.6 cm in flower, erect and 0.4–10 cm 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.
radially symmetric;
calyx accrescent and subtending fruit, unarmed, 5–7 mm, densely pubescent, hairs stellate to echinoid, lobes broadly triangular;
corolla white, stellate, 1–2 cm diam., without interpetalar tissue;
stamens equal;
anthers oblong, 2.5–3.5 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits;
ovary tomentose, hairs stellate or echinoid.
yellow to orange or red, globose, 1–2 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules.
yellow to orange, globose, 1–2 cm diam., densely pubescent, without sclerotic granules.
yellowish, flattened with thickened margins, 3–4 × 2.5–3 mm, minutely pitted.
yellowish brown, flattened, 1.5–2 × 1–1.5 mm, minutely pitted.
= 24.
= 24.
Solanum pseudocapsicum
Solanum erianthum
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.)
In the United States, Solanum erianthum is common only in central to southern Florida and in extreme southern Texas near the Gulf of Mexico.
The name Solanum verbascifolium Linnaeus has been widely misapplied to S. erianthum (K. E. Roe 1968), but is a synonym of S. donianum that has now been rejected.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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