Solanum sodomeum, L.

12. S. sodomeum L. View in CoL , Sp. Pl. 187 (1753) View Cited Treatment .

Shrubby perennial; stem 50-300 cm or more, stout, erect, much-branched, sparsely stellate-pubescent, with many straight, wide-based pale yellow pricklesup to 1 -5 cm. Leaves 5—13(—18) x 4—9(— 15) cm, more or less ovate, pinnatisect almost to midrib, with many prickles, sparsely stellate-hairy above, more densely so beneath; lobes rounded, sinuate; petioles 1—3(—5) cm. Cymes few-flowered, solitary, extra-axillary, sessile; pedicels c. 10 mm, elongating and recurving in fruit; upper flowers smaller, male. Calyx 5-7 mm, accrescent and with dense prickles in hermaphrodite flowers; lobes lanceolate. Corolla 25-30 mm in diameter, orbicular-pentagonal, pale violet. Anthers 5-6 mm, equal. Berry 20-30 mm in diameter, globose, yellow to brown, shining. Maritime sands, roadsides and waste places, especially near the sea. Naturalized in S. Europe; an occasional casualelsewhere. [Al Az BI Bu Co Gr Hs It Ju Lu Sa Si.] (Africa.)

S. sisymbrifolium Lam. , Tabi. Encycl. Méth. Bot. 2: 25 (1794), from temperate South America, distinguished from 12 by its corolla 30-35 mm in diameter and red berry partly enclosed by the. accrescent calyx, is occasionally found as a casual in C. Europe.