Mullein nightshade

Solanum blodgettii Chapman

Shrubs, erect, sparsely armed when young, older growth unarmed, 0.5–2.5 m, prickles brownish, 1–3 mm, straight, moderately to densely pubes­cent, hairs sessile to short-stalked, stellate, 6–9-rayed, central ray absent or shorter than lateral rays. Leaves petiolate; petiole 1–3 cm; blade simple, ovate to elliptic, 4.5–13 × 2–5.5 cm, margins entire, base rounded to acute. Inflorescences terminal to extra-axillary, much-branched, with numerous flowers, 2–8 cm. Pedicels erect and 0.7–1 cm in flower and fruit. Flowers radially symmetric; calyx not accrescent, unarmed, 2–4 mm, moderately stellate-pubescent, lobes triangular; corolla white, stellate, 1.5–2 cm diam., with­out interpetalar tissue; stamens equal; anthers narrow and tapered, 3–4.5 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores; ovary glabrous or sparsely glandular-pubescent. Berries red, globose, 0.5–1 cm diam., glabrous or sparsely glandular-pubescent, without sclerotic granules. Seeds yellow, flattened, 2.5–3.5 × 1.5–2.5 mm, minutely pit­ted. 2n = 24.

Flowering year-round. Seasides, hammocks, pine forests, limestone soils; 0 m; Fla.; s Mexico; West Indies (Bahamas); Central America (Belize, Guatemala).

Solanum donianum is occasional in southern Florida. The oldest name for this species is S. verbascifolium Linnaeus, but it has been widely misapplied to S. erianthum and is now rejected.