| | Solanum species of eastern and northern Australia |
Habit. Prostrate or sprawling. Herbaceous resprouter. 0.1–0.6 m high.
Branchlets. Branchlets brown or green. Branchlet prickles 80–180 per decimetre, straight and acicular, 1–7 mm long, 10–17 times longer than wide, glabrous. Branchlet hairs simple or stellate. Branchlet stellate hairs sparse to moderate, 0.5–0.6 mm diameter, stalks 0–0.1 mm long, lateral rays 5–8, lateral rays porrect, central ray 0.7–1.5 times as long as laterals, central ray not gland-tipped, rigid. Branchlet simple hairs erect, straight, gland-tipped, 0.1–0.7 mm long.
Leaves. Leaves ovate or broadly ovate, 6–12.5 cm long, 4.5–9.5 cm wide, 1.3–1.8 times longer than broad, shallowly lobed throughout, lobes 3–6 on each side, lobes acute, lobing index 1.2–1.4. Leaf apex acute, base obtuse or cordate, oblique part 1–10 mm long, obliqueness index 2–11 percent. Petioles 2–5.6 cm long, 20–50% length of lamina, prickles present.
Upper leaf surface. Upper leaf surface green, prickles present on midvein and lateral veins, prickles 15–100, prickles straight and acicular, prickles 2–8 mm long. Upper leaf surface stellate hairs distributed throughout, protostellae absent, very sparse to sparse, 0.8–1.7 mm apart, 0.3–0.4 mm across, stalks 0 mm long, lateral rays 4–7, lateral rays porrect, central ray 2–3 times as long as laterals, central ray not gland-tipped. Upper leaf surface simple hairs erect, straight, sparse, not gland-tipped or gland-tipped, 0.1–0.6 mm long. Upper leaf surface short glandular hairs absent.
Lower leaf surface. Lower leaf surface green, prickles present on midvein and lateral veins, prickles 30–100, prickles straight and acicular. Lower leaf surface stellate hairs sparse to moderate, 0.4–1.5 mm apart, 0.5–0.7 mm diameter, stalks 0 mm long, lateral rays 4–8, lateral rays porrect, central ray 1–1.7 times as long as laterals, central ray not gland-tipped. Lower leaf surface simple hairs erect, straight, sparse or moderate to dense, gland-tipped, 0.1–0.6 mm long. Lower leaf surface short glandular hairs absent.
Inflorescence. Inflorescence supra-axillary, cymose (pseudo-racemose), common peduncle 2–16 mm long, rachis prickles present, 2–5-flowered, with some bisexual and some male flowers. Flowers 5-merous. Pedicels at anthesis 5–18 mm long, markedly thicker distally, 0.4–1 mm thick at mid-point, prickles present. Calyx tube at anthesis 3–5 mm long. Calyx lobes at anthesis deltate or attenuate, 4–8 mm long. Calyx prickles at anthesis present, 36–70 per flower, 2–7 mm long. Calyx stellae very sparse to sparse or moderate, transparent, 0.4–0.5 mm across, stalks 0 mm long, lateral rays 4–8, central ray 1–1.5 times as long as laterals, central ray not gland-tipped. Calyx simple hairs present. Calyx short glandular hairs absent. Corolla mauve or purple, 9–17 mm long, rotate or campanulate, inner surface glabrous. Anthers 4–5 mm long. Ovary glabrous or with short glandular hairs only. Functional style 9–10.5 mm long, strongly bent near base, not touching anthers, glabrous.
Fruits. Fruiting calyx lobes less than half length of mature fruit, prickles 2–7 mm long. Mature fruits 1–2 per inflorescence, globular, 21–26 mm diameter, yellowish-green or green, often streaked, 2-locular, placenta stalked, anvil-shaped, interior moist but not juicy, pericarp 2.5 mm thick, pedicels 15–28 mm long, pedicels 1.3–2 mm thick at mid-point. Seeds pale yellow, 2.3–2.6 mm long.
Distribution and habitat. Queensland, New South Wales. Qld: Moreton, Darling Downs, Wide Bay, Burnett. NSW: North Coast, Northern Tablelands. Evergreen notophyll rainforest (no eucalypts), wet eucalypt forest with rainforest understorey, or rainforest margins.
Classification. Subg. Leptostemonum. Data source: specimens.
Illustrations. • fruits. • flower. • habit. • holotype. • branchlet showing simple hairs. • flowers.
Cite this publication as: ‘Bean, A.R. 2012 onwards. Solanum species of eastern and northern Australia. Version: 25th January 2023. delta-intkey.com’.
