Solanum Species of Eastern Australia
| Solanum Species of Eastern Australia | |
Habit and juveniles. Sprawling, or erect. Herbaceous resprouter. 0.3 m high. Juvenile branchlets with 15–25 prickles per dm. Juvenile branchlets prickles 3–5 mm long. Juvenile leaves elliptical; deeply lobed throughout; with 2–3 pairs of lobes; lamina 2–3.2 cm long; lamina 1–1.4 cm wide; with 1–3 prickles on upper surface.
Branchlets. Adult branchlets grey, or yellow. Adult branchlets prickles 5–30 per decimetre; straight, acicular; 3–6 mm long; 10–15 times longer than wide; glabrous, or with scattered stellate hairs on lower half. Adult branchlets hairs stellate. Adult branchlets stellae very dense; 0.3–0.5 mm diameter; stalks 0–0.1 mm long; lateral rays 6–8; lateral rays porrect; central ray present; central ray 0.5–1 times as long as laterals; central ray not gland-tipped; rigid.
Leaves. Adult leaves narrow lanceolate, or lanceolate, or elliptical, or ovate; entire, or shallowly lobed throughout; lobes 0 on each side, or 2–3 on each side; lobes obtuse; lobing index 1–1.8; lamina 1.5–5 cm long; lamina 0.4–1.8 cm wide; lamina 2.4–7 times longer than broad; apex obtuse; base cuneate or attenuate; oblique part 0–5 mm long; obliqueness index 0–9 percent. Adult leaves petioles 0.3–2.2 cm long; 17–55 % length of lamina; prickles absent, or present.
Upper leaf surface. Upper leaf surface green; prickles absent, or present on midvein only; prickles 0–4; prickles straight, acicular; prickles 3–6 mm long; stellate hairs distributed throughout; protostellae absent; stellate hair density very sparse to sparse. Upper leaf surface ordinary stellae 0.3–0.9 mm apart; 0.25–0.4 mm across; stalks 0 mm long; lateral rays 6–8; porrect; central ray 0.5–1 times as long as laterals; central ray not gland-tipped. Upper leaf surface simple hairs absent. Upper leaf surface Type 2 hairs absent.
Lower leaf surface. Lower leaf surface green, or yellowish; prickles absent. Lower leaf surface stellate hair density sparse to dense. Lower leaf surface stellae 0.1–0.7 mm apart; 0.3–0.6 mm diameter; stalks 0–0.1 mm long; lateral rays 7–8; lateral rays porrect; central ray 0.5–1 times as long as laterals; central ray not gland-tipped. Lower leaf surface simple hairs absent. Lower leaf surface Type 2 hairs absent.
Inflorescence. Inflorescence leaf-opposed; solitary, or cymose (pseudo-racemose); common peduncle absent, or present; common peduncle 0–15 mm long; rachis prickles absent, or present; 1–4-flowered; strongly andromonoecious, or weakly andromonoecious. Flowers 5-merous. Pedicels at anthesis 7–19 mm long; markedly thicker distally; 0.7–1 mm thick at mid-point; prickles absent, or present. Calyx tube at anthesis 2–3 mm long. Calyx lobes at anthesis deltate; 2–3.5 mm long. Calyx prickles at anthesis absent, or present; 0–10 per flower; 0.5–4 mm long. Calyx stellae dense; transparent; 0.3–0.4 mm across; stalks 0 mm long; lateral rays 7–8; central ray 0.5–1 times as long as laterals; central ray not gland-tipped. Calyx simple hairs absent. Calyx Type 2 hairs absent. Corolla purple; 10–17 mm long; rotate; inner surface glabrous. Anthers 4.6–5.5 mm long. Ovary with Type 2 hairs only. Functional style 9–10 mm long; erect; glabrous.
Fruits. Fruiting calyx lobes less than half length of mature fruit, or lobes more than half length of mature fruit; prickles absent, or present; prickles 0.5–4 mm long. Mature fruits 1 per inflorescence; globular; 16–20 mm diameter; 2-locular; placenta sessile, semi-circular; mesocarp juicy, succulent, or moist but not juicy; exocarp 0.4–0.5 mm thick. Pedicels at fruiting stage 15–27 mm long; 0.9–1.2 mm thick at mid-point. Seeds pale yellow; 2.5–3.7 mm long.
Distribution and habitat. Queensland. Cook. Shrubby eucalypt woodland, remote from rainforest.
Miscellaneous. Data source: specimens.
Illustrations. • closeup of flowers. • whole plant.
The interactive key provides access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, and summaries of attributes within groups of taxa.
Cite this publication as: ‘Bean, A.R. 2005 onwards. Solanum species of Eastern Australia. Version: 8th October 2006. http://delta-intkey.com’.
