7. Solanum chenopodioides Lamarck in J. Lamarck and J. Poiret, Tabl. Encycl. 2: 18. 1794.
[I]
Whitetip or velvety nightshade
Solanum americanum Miller var. baylisii D’Arcy; S. ottonis Hylander
Herbs or shrubs, annual to short-lived perennial, erect or somewhat sprawling, unarmed, to 1 m, glabrescent to densely pubescent, hairs unbranched, to 1 mm, eglandular. Leaves petiolate; petiole 1–3 cm; blade simple, narrowly ovate to elliptic, 1.5–5(–7) × 0.5–3.5 cm, margins entire or sinuate, base cuneate to decurrent. Inflorescences extra-axillary or leaf-opposed, unbranched or rarely forked, umbel-like, 3–7(–10)-flowered, 1–3(–4) cm, fruiting peduncles sharply reflexed from base. Pedicels 0.5–1 cm in flower and fruit, reflexed downward in fruit. Flowers radially symmetric; calyx not accrescent, unarmed, 2–3.5 mm, sparsely pubescent, lobes deltate, appressed in fruit; corolla white or purplish, with greenish, yellowish, or brown central star, stellate, 0.8–1.5 cm diam., with sparse interpetalar tissue; stamens equal; anthers ellipsoidal, 2–3 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits; ovary glabrous. Berries dull purplish black, globose, 0.5–1 cm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules. Seeds pale yellow, flattened, 1–1.5 × 1–1.5 mm, minutely pitted. 2n = 24.
Flowering May–Oct (year-round in Fla.). Sandy soil, disturbed areas; 0–2000 m; introduced; Calif., Fla., Ga., Md., Mo., N.C., Wis.; South America (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay); introduced also in Europe, Africa, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia.
Solanum chenopodioides has been introduced sporadically and is occasionally adventive in North America. It is distinctive in having the fruiting peduncles strongly reflexed downward, but is otherwise difficult to distinguish from S. pseudogracile, with which it may be conspecific.
The illegitimate superfluous name Solanum gracile Dunal has often been used for S. chenopodioides (for example, J. K. Small 1913; A. E. Radford et al. 1968). W. G. D’Arcy (1974) included S. gracile (and its replacement name S. ottonis) in the synonymy of S. nigrescens but the taxa are distinct.
