Solanum triflorum |
Solanum jamesii |
|
---|---|---|
cut-leaf nightshade, three flower nightshade |
wild potato |
|
Habit | Herbs, annual, decumbent to prostrate, unarmed, to 0.4 m, fleshy, nearly glabrous to moderately pubescent, hairs unbranched, to 2 mm, eglandular, rarely glandular. | Herbs, perennial, erect, unarmed, bearing tubers to 2 cm long, to 0.5 m, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, hairs unbranched, gland-tipped. |
Leaves | petiolate; petiole 0.5–2.5 cm; blade simple, elliptic to oblong, 2–5 × 1–3 cm, margins shallowly lobed to deeply and regularly pinnatifid with 3–6 lobes per side, lobe margins entire or occasionally coarsely lobed, base cuneate and decurrent. |
petiolate; petiole 1.5–3.5 cm, sometimes with pair of pinnatifid pseudostipules at base; blade compound, elliptic to ovate, 7–15 × 4–9 cm, margins divided into 1–4(–5) pairs of leaflets, leaflet margins entire, base attenuate. |
Inflorescences | extra-axillary, unbranched, umbel-like, 1–6-flowered, 1–3 cm. |
terminal, extra-axillary, generally forked or 3-fid, 4–10(–20)-flowered, to 3 cm. |
Pedicels | spreading and 0.5–1.5 cm in flower, reflexed and 0.5–1.5 cm in fruit. |
articulated near middle, 1.6–3 cm in flower and fruit. |
Flowers | radially symmetric; calyx accrescent and covering base of berry, unarmed, 2–4(–7) mm, moderately pubescent, lobes deltate, reflexed; corolla white or light purple with green or purplish central star, stellate, 0.5–1 cm diam., with sparse interpetalar tissue; stamens equal; anthers narrowly ellipsoidal, 2.5–4 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits; ovary glabrous. |
radially symmetric; calyx not accrescent, unarmed, 4–6 mm, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, lobes deltate-acuminate; corolla white, stellate, 2.8–3.5 cm diam., without interpetalar tissue; stamens equal; anthers oblong, slightly tapered, 5–6 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits; ovary glabrous. |
Berries | shiny dark green to purplish black, globose, 0.8–2 cm diam., glabrous, with 13–30 sclerotic granules. |
green, globose, ca. 1 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules. |
Seeds | yellow, plump, 2–3 × 2–2.5 mm, minutely pitted. |
dark reddish brown, rounded, 1–2 mm diam., rugose. |
2n | = 24. |
= 24. |
Solanum triflorum |
Solanum jamesii |
|
Phenology | Flowering Apr–Sep. | Flowering Jun–Oct. |
Habitat | Disturbed areas, roadsides, stream banks, along railroad tracks, prairie dog towns. | Hillsides, stream bottoms, sandy soils, disturbed grasslands, pinyon-juniper forests, oak thickets, coniferous and deciduous forests. |
Elevation | (0–)700–2900 m. ((0–)2300–9500 ft.) | 1300–2900 m. (4300–9500 ft.) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; IA; ID; KS; MA; MI; MN; MO; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OK; OR; SD; TX; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; SK; South America (Argentina) [Introduced in Europe, Africa, Australia]
|
AZ; CO; NM; TX; UT; Mexico (Chihuahua, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Sonora)
|
Discussion | Solanum triflorum is found in South America (Argentina) and is also considered to be native to central and western North America. It is occasionally adventive in the eastern United States. It is poisonous to livestock and can become a serious weed in cultivated fields, especially in the Great Plains. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The tubers of Solanum jamesii have been gathered as food by Native Americans, and starch grains identified as S. jamesii from stone tools in Utah form the earliest evidence for the use of potatoes in North America (L. A. Louderback and B. M. Pavlik 2017). All other parts of the plant are toxic. (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 | Nuttall: Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 1: 128. (1818) | Torrey: Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. New York 2: 227. (1827) |
Web links |
|