Solanum seaforthianum |
Solanum davisense |
|
---|---|---|
Brazilian nightshade |
Davis horsenettle |
|
Habit | Herbs, annual, erect, moderately armed, 0.4–0.8 m, prickles whitish or yellowish, straight, needlelike, 3–15 mm, moderately to densely pubescent, hairs unbranched, glandular and eglandular, abaxial leaf surfaces also with sessile, few-rayed, stellate hairs, central ray equal to or longer than lateral rays. | |
Leaves | petiolate; petioles twining around supports, 1–4 cm; blade simple to compound, elliptic to broadly ovate, (2–)3.5–10(–13) × (1–)2–9(–11) cm, margins entire to divided with up to 4 pairs of leaflets, leaflet margins entire, base truncate or slightly cordate. |
petiolate; petiole 2–6 cm; blade simple to compound, broadly ovate, 5–10 × 2.5–8 cm, margins 2–3 times lobed or divided with 3–4 main leaflets per side, leaflets with acute lobes, base truncate. |
Inflorescences | terminal, becoming lateral, extra-axillary, much-branched, to 100+-flowered, to 25+ cm. |
extra-axillary, unbranched, 5–9-flowered, 4–7 cm. |
Pedicels | inserted into small sleeve on inflorescence axis, 0.8–1.4 cm in flower and fruit. |
1–1.5 cm in flower, 1–1.5 cm and erect in fruit. |
Flowers | radially symmetric; calyx not accrescent, unarmed, ca. 0.5 mm, nearly truncate, glabrous or sparsely pubescent on lobe tips; corolla purple, stellate, 1–2.5 cm diam., with sparse interpetalar tissue; stamens unequal due to unequal filaments; anthers ellipsoidal, 2–3 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores; ovary glabrous. |
bilaterally symmetric; calyx accrescent and tightly covering fruit, densely prickly, 3–5 mm, densely pubescent, lobes linear; corolla violet or blue, pentagonal-stellate, 1.4–2 cm diam., with interpetalar tissue at the margins and bases of lobes; stamens unequal, lowermost much longer and curved; anthers narrow and tapered, dehiscent by terminal pores, short anthers yellow, 4–5.5 mm, longer anther purplish, 5.5–8.5 mm; ovary glabrous. |
Berries | bright shiny red, globose, 0.8–1.5 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules. |
brown, globose, 0.8–1 cm diam., glabrous, dry, without sclerotic granules. |
Seeds | pale yellowish tan, flattened, 4–4.5 × 2.5-3 mm, minutely pitted. |
dark brown, flattened, 2.6–3 × 2–2.5 mm, minutely pitted. |
Climbing | or scrambling vines, woody, unarmed, to ca. 3 m, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, hairs white, unbranched, ca. 0.2 mm. |
|
2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
Solanum seaforthianum |
Solanum davisense |
|
Phenology | Flowering year-round. | Flowering Jun–Sep. |
Habitat | Disturbed sites. | Igneous soils, sand or gravel streambeds. |
Elevation | 0–200 m. (0–700 ft.) | 900–2100 m. (3000–6900 ft.) |
Distribution |
FL; Mexico; West Indies; Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama); South America (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela) [Introduced in North America; introduced also elsewhere in South America (Argentina, Paraguay, Peru), Asia, Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia]
|
TX; Mexico (Coahuila) |
Discussion | Solanum seaforthianum is widely cultivated as an ornamental and sporadically escapes in Florida. A similar species with twining petioles, S. laxum Sprengel, is occasionally cultivated in California. It is distinguished from S. seaforthianum by having tufts of hairs in the vein axils of the abaxial leaf surfaces, white rather than violet corollas, and equal stamens. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
In Texas, Solanum davisense is known only from the Chinati, Chisos, and Davis mountains. (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 | ||
Name authority | Andrews: Bot. Repos. 8: plate 504. (1808) | Whalen: Wrightia 5: 234, fig. 35. (1976) |
Web links |