Solanum pseudocapsicum
Solanum marginatum
Jerusalem cherry, Jerusalem- or winter-cherry, Jerusalem-cherry nightshade
purple African nightshade, white-margined nightshade, white-margined or purple African 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 1.5–6 cm;
blade simple, ovate, 8–23 × 7–13 cm, margins coarsely lobed with 3–4 lobes per side, lobe margins entire to coarsely lobed, base cordate.
leaf-opposed, unbranched, 1–8-flowered, 0.2–1 cm.
extra-axillary or leaf-opposed, occasionally sessile, unbranched or forked, 6–15(–30)-flowered, 3.5–8 cm.
0.3–0.7 cm in flower, 0.8–1 cm and erect in fruit.
0.5–2 cm in flower, pendent and 2–3 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, sparsely to moderately armed, 7–15 mm, densely stellate-pubescent, lobes broadly deltate;
corolla white to pale purple, rotate-stellate, 2.5–4 cm diam., with abundant interpetalar tissue;
stamens equal;
anthers narrow and tapered, 5.5–7 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores;
ovary moderately stellate-pubescent.
yellow to orange or red, globose, 1–2 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules.
yellow, dark green mottled with white when young, globose, 3.5–4(–5) cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules.
yellowish, flattened with thickened margins, 3–4 × 2.5–3 mm, minutely pitted.
light brown, flattened, 2.5–3.5 × 2–2.5 mm, minutely pitted.
= 24.
= 24.
Solanum pseudocapsicum
Solanum marginatum
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 marginatum is naturalized along the central and southern coast of California, where it has been listed as a noxious weed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. There are few recent collections.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CA
