Earleaf nightshade

Solanum auriculatum Aiton

Shrubs or small trees, erect, unarmed, 2–12 m, densely pubescent, hairs white, sessile to long-stalked, stellate to echi­noid. Leaves petiolate; petiole 1–8 cm; blade simple, elliptic to ovate, 11–31 × 4–14 cm, margins entire, base acute, often with smaller axillary leaves. Inflorescences ter­minal, becoming leaf-opposed, much-branched, 50–100-flowered, 5–24 cm. Pedicels erect and 0.2–0.5 cm in flower and fruit. Flowers radially sym­metric; calyx slightly accrescent, unarmed, 4–7.5 mm, densely pubes­cent, lobes deltate; corolla purple, stellate-pentagonal, 1–1.5 cm diam., with abundant interpetalar tissue; stamens equal; anthers oblong, 2–3.5 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits; ovary tomentose. Berries yellow, globose, 1–1.5 cm diam., tomentose, without sclerotic granules. Seeds yellowish brown, flattened, 1.5–2.5 × 1.5–2 mm, minutely pitted. 2n = 24.

Flowering Mar–Jul. Disturbed sites; 0–500 m; intro­duced; Calif., Fla.; South America (Brazil, Uruguay); introduced also in Asia (India), Africa, Atlantic Islands, Indian Ocean Islands, Pacific Islands, Australia.

In Florida, Solanum mauritianum has become natu­ralized and common only at one site in Pasco County. It also occurs frequently in southern California from Santa Barbara south to San Diego with urban waifs in the Bay Area. It appears to be spreading into relatively undis­turbed riparian areas in the San Gabriel Mountains and may become a widespread pest.