Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants - Online edition

Solanum macoorai F.M.Bailey


Herb (herbaceous or woody, under 1 m tall)
Shrub (woody or herbaceous, 1-6 m tall)
Click/tap on images to enlarge
Leaves, Fruit. © CSIRO
Leaves, Fruit. © CSIRO
Fruit, side views and cross section. © W. T. Cooper
Scale bar 10mm. © CSIRO
Scale bar 10mm. © CSIRO
Cotyledonand 1st leaf stage, epigeal germination. © CSIRO
Cotyledon stage, epigeal germination. © CSIRO
10th leaf stage. © CSIRO
10th leaf stage. © CSIRO
Family

Bailey, F.M. (1893) Queensland Department of Agriculture and Stock. Botany Bulletin 8: 80. Type: Queensland, Summit of south peak Bellenden-Ker, June, 1889, F. M. Bailey; holo: BRI. Cultivated Brisbane.

Common name

Nightshade

Stem

Usually flowers and fruits as a shrub about 1-4 m tall.

Leaves

Leaves rather variable depending on the size of the plant. Leaf blades about 5-10 x 2-4 cm, margins smooth or sinuate. Spines present or absent on the twigs, petioles and leaves. Twigs, petioles and lower leaf surface clothed in small stellate hairs, upper surface of the leaf blade +/- glabrous. Petioles about 1-2 cm long.

Flowers

Pedicels about 10-15 mm long. Calyx about 5-8 mm long, lobes about 2.5-3 mm long, outer surface clothed in stellate hairs. Corolla about 20-30 mm diam., outer surface clothed in stellate and simple hairs. Anthers about 4-5 mm long. Upper part of the ovary and style clothed in stellate hairs.

Fruit

Fruits globular or ovoid, about 15-20 mm diam., calyx stellate hairy, persistent at the base. Pedicels about 20-30 mm long. Seeds about 3 mm long. Embryo U-shaped or coiled, cotyledons no wider than the radicle.

Seedlings

Cotyledons ovate to elliptic, about 10-12 x 5-7 mm. First pair of leaves alternate, hairy, margins smooth, toothed or lobed. At the tenth leaf stage: lower leaf surface clothed in stellate hairs, upper leaf surface much more sparsely hairy. Stem, petiole and both the upper and lower surfaces of the leaf blade armed with straight spines about 4-7 mm long. Seed germination time 7 to 38 days.

Distribution and Ecology

Occurs in CYP (?) and NEQ. Altitudinal range from  750-1200 m. Grows as an understory plant in disturbed upland and mountain rain forest.

RFK Code
3218
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