4. Chamaesaracha coniodes (Moricand ex Dunal) Bentham & Hooker f. ex B. D. Jackson in B. D. Jackson et al., Index Kew. 1(1): 505. 1893.
Gray five eyes
Solanum coniodes Moricand ex Dunal in A. P. de Candolle and A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 13(1): 64. 1852; Chamaesaracha texensis Henrickson
Stems decumbent to ± prostrate, pale green, 1–3 dm. Herbage pubescent, viscid, hairs simple, dendritic in some populations, especially in s Texas, eglandular and glandular. Leaves subsessile; blade linear-lanceolate or oblanceolate to rhombic, 2–6 × 0.5–2 cm, length 3–4 times width, margins shallowly to deeply lobed (occasionally only a few shallow lobes). Inflorescences 1–5-flowered. Flowers: calyx 4–5 mm, densely pubescent, hairs mostly relatively long; corolla 5–15 mm diam. Berries 8–10 mm diam. 2n = 48.
Flowering Mar–Oct (mostly late spring–early summer, depending on rain). Deserts, grasslands; 0–2000 m; Colo., Kans., N.Mex., Okla., Tex.; Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas).
Chamaesaracha coniodes is highly variable in leaf shape, vestiture, and stature. It is similar to C. darcyi and C. coronopus. Some populations are similar to C. sordida. The variation and its significance were discussed by J. E. Averett (2010b). J. Henrickson (2009) recognized C. texensis, which has simple hairs and may also have an understory of glandular hairs, as distinct from the type of C. coniodes, which has only dendritic hairs; this is part of the variability across the range of the species.
