Nicandra

Herbs, annual, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, hairs simple, mostly eglandular, taproot slender, somewhat fibrous. Stems branched. Leaves alternate; blade simple or margins slightly lobed. Inflorescences axillary, solitary flowers. Flowers 5-merous; calyx accrescent, campanulate, incised 2/3 its length, lobes 5, bases sagittate to cordate; corolla light purple to nearly white, radial, broadly campanulate, shallowly incised; stamens inserted at base of corolla tube, equal; anthers basifixed, oblong, dehiscing by longitudinal slits; ovary 3–5-carpellate; style filiform; stigma capitate-lobed. Fruits berries, globose, dry. Seeds discoidal to reniform. x = 10.

Distribution

Introduced; South America, introduced also in Mexico, Central America, Africa, Pacific Islands.

Discussion

Species 3 (1 in the flora).

Nicandra has been considered a close relative of Physalis. The resemblance is superficial; current molecular data neither place this genus with Physalis and its relatives nor indicate a particularly close relationship to any other genus. Although Nicandra comes out near Exodeconus Rafinesque and Solandra Swartz (R. G. Olmstead et al. 2008), it is morphologically distinct; A. T. Hunziker (2001) left it in its own tribe (the Nicandreae Lowe).

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

Nicandra physalodes