Solanum pseudocapsicum
Solanum interius
Jerusalem cherry, Jerusalem- or winter-cherry, Jerusalem-cherry nightshade
deadly nightshade, plains black nightshade, plains black or deadly 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 0.5–3.5 cm;
blade simple, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 4.5–11 × 2.5–7 cm, margins entire to sinuate-dentate, base cuneate to rounded or slightly decurrent.
leaf-opposed, unbranched, 1–8-flowered, 0.2–1 cm.
extra-axillary, unbranched, (2–)3–8-flowered, 2.5–3.5 cm.
0.3–0.7 cm in flower, 0.8–1 cm and erect in fruit.
spreading in flower, recurved to reflexed in fruit, 0.5–1 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 not accrescent, unarmed, 2–5 mm, sparsely pubescent, lobes lanceolate, sometimes reflexed in fruit;
corolla white, sometimes tinged with purple, with yellowish central star, stellate, 0.5–1 cm diam., without interpetalar tissue;
stamens equal;
anthers ellipsoidal, 1.8–2.5 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits;
ovary glabrous.
yellow to orange or red, globose, 1–2 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules.
shiny purplish black, globose, 1–1.5 cm diam., glabrous, with 2–4 sclerotic granules.
yellowish, flattened with thickened margins, 3–4 × 2.5–3 mm, minutely pitted.
yellowish to brown, flattened, 1.8–2 × 1.5–1.6 mm, finely reticulate.
= 24.
= 24.
Solanum pseudocapsicum
Solanum interius
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 interius is endemic to North America and is most common in the Great Plains and eastern Rocky Mountains. Distinctive characters are the basal flower with its pedicel articulated above the base and the very large seeds. In Texas, S. interius can be very difficult to distinguish from S. nigrescens, but S. interius usually has longer calyx lobes. Records of S. interius from Saskatchewan are actually S. emulans.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CalFlora
KS Wildflowers
PNW Herbaria
