Solanum Species of Eastern Australia
| Solanum Species of Eastern Australia | |
Habit and juveniles. Erect. Non-rhizomatous perennial shrub. 1–3 m high. Juvenile branchlets with 0 prickles per dm. Juvenile leaves ovate, or broadly ovate; deeply lobed throughout; with 3–4 pairs of lobes; lamina 15–30 cm long; lamina 11–24 cm wide; with 0 prickles on upper surface.
Branchlets. Adult stems prickles absent. Adult branchlets terete, or ridged; brown, or green. Adult branchlets prickles absent. Adult branchlets hairs absent. Adult branchlets stellae absent.
Leaves. Adult leaves narrow lanceolate, or lanceolate, or elliptical, or ovate, or broadly ovate; entire, or shallowly lobed throughout, or deeply lobed throughout; lobes 0 on each side, or 2–4 on each side; lobes acute; lobing index 1–20; lamina 9–38 cm long; lamina 2–25 cm wide; lamina 1.5–7 times longer than broad; apex acute; base cuneate or attenuate. Adult leaves petioles 1–4 cm long; not winged; prickles absent.
Upper leaf surface. Upper leaf surface green; prickles absent; stellate hairs absent; protostellae absent; stellate hair density absent from surface. Upper leaf surface simple hairs absent. Upper leaf surface Type 2 hairs absent.
Lower leaf surface. Lower leaf surface green; prickles absent. Lower leaf surface stellate hair density absent. Lower leaf surface simple hairs absent. Lower leaf surface Type 2 hairs absent.
Inflorescence. Inflorescence leaf-opposed; cymose (pseudo-racemose), or branched (paniculate to corymbose); common peduncle absent; rachis prickles absent; 5–20-flowered; with all flowers bisexual. Flowers 5-merous. Pedicels at anthesis 15–30 mm long; prickles absent. Calyx tube at anthesis 3–4 mm long. Calyx lobes at anthesis hemispherical, or deltate; 2–3 mm long. Calyx prickles at anthesis absent. Calyx stellae absent. Calyx simple hairs absent. Calyx Type 2 hairs absent. Corolla purple; 15–25 mm long; rotate; inner surface glabrous. Anthers 3–4 mm long. Ovary glabrous. Functional style 6–9 mm long; erect; glabrous.
Fruits. Fruiting calyx lobes less than half length of mature fruit; prickles absent. Mature fruits 5–20 per inflorescence; ellipsoidal or ovoid; 15–20 mm diameter; brown, or yellow, or yellowish-green. Seeds brown to black; 2–3 mm long. Stone-cell granules present.
Distribution and habitat. New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania. North Coast (NC), North-western slopes (NWS). Evergreen notophyll rainforest (no eucalypts), wet eucalypt forest with rainforest understorey, or rainforest margins, shrubby eucalypt woodland, remote from rainforest.
Miscellaneous. Common name: Kangaroo Apple. Data source: Symon 1994.
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’.