| | Solanum species of eastern and northern Australia |
Habit. Prostrate or sprawling. Herbaceous resprouter. 0.1–0.5 m high.
Branchlets. Branchlets yellow or brown or green. Branchlet prickles 30–300 per decimetre, straight and acicular, 1–8 mm long, 12–17 times longer than wide, glabrous or with scattered short glandular hairs on lower half. Branchlet hairs simple or stellate. Branchlet stellate hairs sparse to moderate to dense, 0.6–1 mm diameter, stalks 0–0.2 mm long, lateral rays 4–5, lateral rays porrect, central ray 2–5 times as long as laterals, central ray gland-tipped, thready or rigid. Branchlet simple hairs erect, straight, gland-tipped, 0.2–1.7 mm long.
Leaves. Leaves ovate or broadly ovate, 5–10.5 cm long, 4–7.5 cm wide, 1.3–1.7 times longer than broad, shallowly lobed throughout, lobes 4–5 on each side, lobes acute, lobing index 1.1–1.2. Leaf apex acute, base obtuse or cordate, oblique part 0–8 mm long, obliqueness index 0–8 percent. Petioles 3.4–5.4 cm long, 40–55% length of lamina, prickles present.
Upper leaf surface. Upper leaf surface green, prickles present on midvein and lateral veins, prickles 30–145, prickles straight and acicular, prickles 1–7 mm long. Upper leaf surface stellate hairs absent, absent from surface. Upper leaf surface simple hairs erect, straight, sparse or moderate to dense, not gland-tipped or gland-tipped, 0.2–2 mm long. Upper leaf surface short glandular hairs present throughout, 0.1–1 mm apart.
Lower leaf surface. Lower leaf surface green, prickles present on midvein only or present on midvein and lateral veins, prickles 20–65, prickles straight and acicular. Lower leaf surface stellate hairs very sparse to moderate, 0.5–3 mm apart, 0.5–0.9 mm diameter, stalks 0–0.2 mm long, lateral rays 4–6, lateral rays porrect, central ray 2–5 times as long as laterals, central ray not gland-tipped. Lower leaf surface simple hairs erect, straight, sparse or moderate to dense, not gland-tipped or gland-tipped, 0.1–1.4 mm long. Lower leaf surface short glandular hairs absent.
Inflorescence. Inflorescence supra-axillary, cymose (pseudo-racemose), common peduncle 18–27 mm long, rachis prickles present, 2–7-flowered, with all flowers bisexual. Flowers 5-merous. Pedicels at anthesis 4–7 mm long, same thickness throughout, 0.2–0.4 mm thick at mid-point, prickles present. Calyx tube at anthesis 1.5–3 mm long. Calyx lobes at anthesis attenuate, 7–11 mm long. Calyx prickles at anthesis present, 25–35 per flower, 2.5–6 mm long. Calyx stellae absent or very sparse to sparse or moderate, transparent, 0.5–0.7 mm across, stalks 0–0.1 mm long, lateral rays 2–4, central ray 4–6 times as long as laterals, central ray not gland-tipped. Calyx simple hairs present. Calyx short glandular hairs absent. Corolla mauve, 8–12 mm long, shallowly lobed, inner surface glabrous. Anthers 3.5–5 mm long. Ovary with short glandular hairs only. Functional style 5–6 mm long, protruding between anthers, glabrous.
Fruits. Fruiting calyx lobes more than half length of mature fruit or lobes exceeding mature fruit, prickles 2.5–6 mm long. Mature fruits 1–6 per inflorescence, globular, 11–13 mm diameter, yellowish-green or green, often streaked, 2-locular, placenta stalked, circular to elliptical, interior moist but not juicy, pericarp 0.6–0.7 mm thick, pedicels 5–9 mm long, pedicels 0.6–1 mm thick at mid-point. Seeds pale yellow, 1.7–2.1 mm long.
Distribution and habitat. Queensland. Qld: Cook, Kennedy North. Evergreen notophyll rainforest (no eucalypts), wet eucalypt forest with rainforest understorey, or rainforest margins.
Classification. Subg. Leptostemonum. Data source: specimens.
Illustrations. • cookii_rigel.jpg.
Cite this publication as: ‘Bean, A.R. 2012 onwards. Solanum species of eastern and northern Australia. Version: 25th January 2023. delta-intkey.com’.
