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SOLANACEAE

NIGHTSHADE FAMILY

Michael Nee

Annual to shrub
Leaves generally simple, generally alternate, generally petioled; stipules 0; blade entire to deeply lobed
Inflorescence various
Flower bisexual; calyx lobes generally 5; corolla ± radial, cylindric to rotate, lobes generally 5; stamens 5, alternate corolla lobes; ovary superior, generally 2-chambered, style 1
Fruit: berry or capsule, 2–5-chambered
Genera in family: 75 genera, 3000 species: worldwide, especially ± tropical; many alien weeds in CA; many cultivated for food, drugs, or ornamental (potato, tomato, peppers, tobacco, petunia); many TOXIC.

SOLANUM

NIGHTSHADE

Annual to shrub or vine, often glandular, sometimes prickly
Leaves alternate to subopposite, often unequal, entire to deeply pinnately lobed
Inflorescence: panicle or umbel-like, often 1-sided
Flower: calyx ± bell-shaped; corolla ± rotate, white to purple; anthers free, > filaments, oblong or tapered, opening by 2 pores or short slits near tip; ovary 2-chambered, style 1, stigma head-like
Fruit: berry, generally spheric (or dry, capsule-like)
Seeds many, compressed, generally reniform
Species in genus: ± 1500 species: worldwide, especially tropical Am
Etymology: (Latin: quieting, from narcotic properties)
Reference: [Symon 1981 J Adelaide Bot Gard 4:1–367]
Many cultivated for food (including potato, S. tuberosum ), ornamental; many TOXIC.

Introduced

S. triflorum Nutt.

Annual 1–5 dm, decumbent; hairs ± curved or spreading, sometimes glandular
Leaf 2–5 cm, oblong to ovate, very deeply lobed
Inflorescence umbel-like; flowers 2–3
Flower: calyx 2.5–3 mm, enlarged in fruit, enclosing fruit base; corolla 7–9 mm wide, white, lobes ± = to > tube; anthers ± 3 mm
Fruit 8–12 mm diam, green
Seeds many, 2.5–3 mm, yellow
Chromosomes: n=12
Ecology: Dry scrub, juniper woodland
Elevation: 100–2300 m.
Bioregional distribution: s High Sierra Nevada (e slope), South Coast, Great Basin Floristic Province, n Mojave Desert
Distribution outside California: to c US; native to S.America
Flowering time: Jun–Sep

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