Solanum triflorum
Solanum perplexum
cut-leaf nightshade, three flower nightshade
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 1–6 cm;
blade simple, broadly ovate, 7–22 × 8–18 cm, margins shallowly to deeply lobed with 2–5 lobes per side, lobe margins entire to coarsely lobed, base truncate to cuneate and often oblique.
extra-axillary, unbranched, umbel-like, 1–6-flowered, 1–3 cm.
extra-axillary, forked to several times branched, to 15-flowered, 7–15 cm.
spreading and 0.5–1.5 cm in flower, reflexed and 0.5–1.5 cm in fruit.
1–2 cm in flower, curved downward and to ca. 2.4 cm in fruit.
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 or sparsely prickled, 7–13 mm, densely stellate-pubescent, lobes ovate-lanceolate;
corolla lavender, stellate to stellate-pentagonal or rotate-stellate, 2–4.4 cm diam., with sparse to moderate interpetalar tissue at margins and base of lobes;
stamens equal;
anthers narrow and tapered, 4–10 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores;
ovary glabrous.
shiny dark green to purplish black, globose, 0.8–2 cm diam., glabrous, with 13–30 sclerotic granules.
yellow, subglobose, 1.8–3.5 × 2–4 cm, glabrous, without sclerotic granules.
yellow, plump, 2–3 × 2–2.5 mm, minutely pitted.
yellow, flattened, ca. 2 × 2.5 mm, minutely pitted.
= 24.
= ca. 72.
Solanum triflorum
Solanum perplexum
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.)
Solanum perplexum is similar to S. dimidiatum and was placed in synonymy with S. dimidiatum by W. G. D’Arcy (1974). The two species can be distinguished by their indumentum [golden stellate hairs with six to eight (rarely as few as four) lateral rays with the central ray one- or two-celled and longer than lateral rays in S. perplexum versus whitish stellate hairs with six to ten (rarely as few as four) lateral rays with the central ray one-celled and equal to or shorter than lateral rays in S. dimidiatum], the larger prickles on the stems and leaves (up to 15 mm in S. perplexum versus up to 6.5 mm in S. dimidiatum), and the larger leaves (up to 22 × 18 cm in S. perplexum versus up to 16 × 10 cm in S. dimidiatum).
Solanum perplexum occurs mainly in the region where the borders of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia meet, with a single outlying population known from western Mississippi.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
KS Wildflowers, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
