Solanum furfuraceum R.Br.

Solanaceae

Brown, R. (1810), Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae: 446. Type: "(T.) v.v.Lectotype: At BM a sheet bears the Bennett No. 2672  This is proposed as lectotype. Isolectotypes at K & MEL. Symon, D.E. (1981), A revision of the genus Solanum in Australia. Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens 4: 247-249,.

Corky Nightshade

Shrub 1-3 m tall. Large stems with bark furrowed and corky. Branchlets brown with straight, needle shaped prickles present or absent, 0-15 per decimetre (1 dm = 10 cm), prickles 4-10 mm long, 9-12 times longer than wide; juvenile branchlets with 60-90 prickles per dm. Branchlet hairs stellate.

Adult leaves alternate, simple. Petioles 0.5-1.5 cm long. Stipules absent. Leaf blade ovate, 3-11.5 cm long, 1.1-4.5 cm wide, base cuneate or obtuse, oblique, margin shallowly lobed throughout, lobes 2-3 on each side to entire, obtuse, apex acute. Petioles without prickles. Upper leaf surface with or without prickles and an indumentum of stellate hairs distributed throughout, simple hairs absent, short gland tipped hairs absent. Lower leaf surface without prickles, yellowish green or rusty, with a more dense indumentum of stellate hairs than the upper leaf surface.

Inflorescences leaf opposed and pseudo-racemose with 5-8 bisexual and some male flowers. Pedicels 2-8 mm long with or without prickles. Calyx tube 1.5-3.5 mm long, lobes 2-5 mm long, prickles absent. Calyx with dense stellate hairs, short gland tipped hairs present and simple hairs absent. Corolla purple, 9-17 mm long, shallowly lobed, inner surface glabrous or sparsely stellate hairy. Anthers 4.5-7 mm long. Ovary glabrous. Functional style 8.5-10 mm long, protruding between anthers, glabrous or with stellate hairs.

Fruits globular or depressed globular, 15-21 mm diam., calyx persistent at the base for less than half the length of mature fruit, prickles absent. Mature fruit yellowish-green or green often streaked. Seeds pale yellow about 2.5-2.6 mm long. Embryo not seen.

Features not available.

Endemic to Queensland, occurs in CEQ from west of Townsville to Gayndah and west of Mitchell. Found growing in semi-evergreen vine thicket, in communities of brigalow or bottle trees or in shrubby eucalypt woodland.

Solanum furfuraceum is similar to S. sporadotrichum and distinguishing features are discussed under that species. This profile information and associated coding has been adapted from Bean (2004) and Harden et al. (2014).