Common name: Glossy Nightshade
Solanum americanum Mill. APNI* Synonyms: Solanum nodiflorum subsp. nutans R.J.F.Hend. APNI*
Description: Spreading herb or short-lived shrub to 1.3 m high, glabrous or sparsely hairy with simple hairs, often purplish; prickles absent.
Leaves ovate to lanceolate, mostly 3–8 cm long, 2–4 cm wide, often larger on young plants, margins entire or shallowly lobed; both surfaces green and glabrous or sparsely pubescent; petiole 1–5 cm long.
Inflorescences 4–12-flowered; peduncle to 25 mm long, lengthening in fruit; pedicels 5–8 mm. Calyx 1–2 mm long; lobes c. 1 mm long. Corolla deeply incised, usually 8–9 mm diam., white or flushed purple with yellow-green centre.
Berry 6–9 mm diam., purple-black.
Flowering: most of year.
Distribution and occurrence: Variable cosmopolitan weed in disturbed habitats, east from Booligal area.
NSW subdivisions: *NC, *CC, *SC, *CT, *NWS, *CWS, *SWP, *SFWP, *LHI
Other Australian states: *Qld *Vic. *W.A. *N.T.
This is a variable taxon, and it is considered to be more than one species by some workers. In other cases subspecies are distinguished.
Text by B. J. Conn
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 3 (1992)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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