familySolanaceae
genusSolanum
speciesSolanum furcatum

Solanum furcatum

Dunal in J. Lamarck et al.

Encycl., suppl. 3: 750. 1814.

Lynn Bohs1, 1The author wishes to acknowledge co-authorship with David M. Spooner† on S. jamesii and S. stoloniferum and with Sandra Knapp and Tiina Särkinen on the black nightshade species.
Common names: Forked nightshade
WeedyIntroduced
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 14.

Herbs, annual or perennial, erect to sprawling, unarmed, to 1 m, sparsely pubescent, hairs unbranched, to 0.5 mm, eglandular. Leaves petiolate; petiole 1–3.5 cm; blade simple, ovate-lanceolate, 3–10 × 2–5 cm, margins entire to sinuate-dentate, base cuneate to trun­cate. Inflorescences extra-axillary, forked, umbel-like or racemelike, 6–14-flowered, 1.5–3 cm. Pedicels straight and spreading and 0.5–1 cm in flower, strongly reflexed and 0.5–1 cm in fruit. Flowers radially symmetric; calyx not accrescent, unarmed, 3–4 mm, sparsely pubescent, lobes obtuse; corolla white to pale purple with yellowish or greenish central star, stellate, 1–2 cm diam., with sparse interpetalar tissue; stamens equal; anthers ellipsoidal, 2.5–3.5 mm, dehis­cent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits; ovary glabrous. Berries dull green to purple, globose, 0.5–0.9 cm diam., glabrous, with 6–14 sclerotic granules per fruit. Seeds pale yellow to light brown, flattened, 1.5–2 × 1–1.5 mm, finely reticulate. 2n = 72.


Phenology: Flowering May–Oct.
Habitat: Open and disturbed areas near sea cliffs, bluffs, and on sand dunes.
Elevation: 0–500 m.

Distribution

Calif., Oreg., Wash., South America (Argentina, Chile), introduced also in Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia.

Discussion

Solanum furcatum is found in coastal environments in the western United States. M. Nee (1993) stated that the name S. gayanum (J. Remy) F. Philippi has been misapplied to plants of S. furcatum, but no basis can be found for this assertion and the two species are mor­phologically very different. Solanum gayanum, a syno­nym of S. crispum Ruiz & Pavon, and native to Chile, is cultivated and perhaps naturalized in San Francisco, California (P. A. Munz 1968).

Solanum furcatum can be distinguished from the similar and sympatric S. douglasii by its usually forked inflorescences and fruits with usually more than ten sclerotic granules. A distinctive character of S. furcatum is the long style that is about twice the length of the anthers.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
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Author
Lynn Bohs1 +  and 1The author wishes to acknowledge co-authorship with David M. Spooner† on S. jamesii and S. stoloniferum and with Sandra Knapp and Tiina Särkinen on the black nightshade species. +
Authority
Dunal in J. Lamarck et al. +
Common name
Forked nightshade +
Distribution
Calif. +, Oreg. +, Wash. +, South America (Argentina +, Chile) +, introduced also in Pacific Islands (New Zealand) +  and Australia. +
Elevation
0–500 m. +
Habitat
Open and disturbed areas near sea cliffs, bluffs, and on sand dunes. +
Number of lower taxa
0 +
Phenology
Flowering May–Oct. +
Publication title
Encycl., suppl. +
Publication year
1814 +
Reference
None +
Special status
Weedy +  and Introduced +
Synonyms
Lycopersicon +
Taxon family
Solanaceae +
Taxon name
Solanum furcatum +
Taxon parent
Solanum +
Taxon rank
species +
Volume
Volume 14 +