Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

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Solanum esuriale

Common name

Quena

Family

Solanaceae

Where found

Woodland, shrubland, grassy areas, disturbed sites, and along seasonal watercourses. Western Slopes.

Notes

Perennial herb to 0.3 m tall, sometimes forming dense patches. Usually has no prickles, some plants having a few prickles towards the base of the plant. Stems densely stellate hairy (needs a hand lens or a macro app on your phone/tablet to see). Leaves alternating up the stems, 2-8 cm long, 4-30 mm wide, grey-green, stellate hairy, tips pointed or blunt, margins entire or slightly wavy. Lower leaves with lobed and wavy margins, upper leaves entire or the margins scarcely lobed. Flowers purple to mauve, sometimes white, 15–25 mm in diameter, broadly tubular with 5 lobes or star-shaped, in open clusters of 2-6 flowers. Ripe fruit yellow to yellow brown, not fleshy.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Solanum~esuriale (accessed 7 February, 2021)