Solanum mauritianum Willd.
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
- Bohs, L.. Major clades in Solanum based on ndhF sequences. Pp. 27-49 in R. C. Keating, V. C. Hollowell, & T. B. Croat (eds.), A festschrift for William G. D’Arcy: the legacy of a taxonomist. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 104. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.
- Roe, K.E.. A revision of Solanum sect. Brevantherum (Solanaceae) in North and Central America. Brittonia 19: 353-373.
- Roe, K.E.. Terminology of hairs in the genus Solanum. Taxon 20: 501-508.
- Roe, K.E.. A revision of Solanum section Brevantherum (Solanaceae). Brittonia 24: 239–278.
Solanum mauritianum is distinguished by its terete and lanate or velutinous stems; stem hairs partly to mostly long-stalked; axillary leaves often strongly developed; leaf apices long-attenuate; and hairs on lower leaf surfaces usually long-stalked in part.This species and S. granuloso-leprosum appear to intergrade in southeastern Brazil, judging from herbarium specimens. Some specimens of possible hybrid origin show high pollen stainability while others appear nearly sterile.A type specimen of S. mauritianum is unknown. The illustration, tab. 8 in Scopoli’s Deliciae Florae et Faunae Insubricae, is quite adequate in detail and may be accepted as type in lieu of a specimen (Roe, 1972).
Solanum mauritianum is a typical member of Solanum section Brevantherum (the Brevantherum clade of Bohs, 2005). Its phylogenetic position within the Brevantherum clade has not been investigated using molecular data.
Solanum mauritianum is a native of Uruguay and southeastern Brazil, but now it is introduced into tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. It was possibly first introduced to Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, and India by way of the Portuguese trade route, Manila-São Paulo-Capetown-Goa, beginning in the early 16th century. A species of disturbed forest openings, roadsides, or field borders, S. mauritianum is found from sea level to 2000 m. It may occur sporadically or in large thickets and has become a troublesome weed in some areas of Australia and South Africa. Its range is spreading, and it is targeted for chemical and biological control in some areas where it has become a noxious pest.
"Shrub or small trees, 2-4 m tall, branched above to form a rounded canopy, unarmed, all parts densely pubescent with sessile to long-stalked stellate hairs, loose and floccose on young growth. Leaves paler on lower surface, simple, alternate, elliptic, up to 30 x 12 cm on young vigorous growth, usually ca. 18 x. 6 cm on mature stems, margings entire, apex acuminate, base cuneate, often oblique, petioles 3-9 cm long, each with 1 or 2 smaller auriculate leaves in axils which are sessile, rounded, sometime absent. Flowers numerous in branched corymbs; peduncles up to 15 cm long; pedicels 2-3 mm long. Calyx tube short, 2-3 mm long, lobes narrowly triangular, 1-2mm long. Corolla lilac blue with a pale star-shaped area at base, stellate, 1.5-2.5 cm in diam. Stamens 5, inserted low on corolla tube; filaments ca. 1 mm long; anthers oblong, 2-3.5 mm long, opening by terminal pores. Ovary densely pubescent; lower part of style pubescent, 5-7 mm long; stigma green, terminal. Berries dull yellowish, succulent, globose, 1-1.5 cm in diam., pubescent at least in early stages; seeds numerous, flattened, 1.5-2 mm long, testa minutely reticulate."
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Habit: Shrub
Common names: wild tobacco (Australia). Earleaf nightshade (USA).
Habit
Shrubs or small trees 2-12 m high, unarmed. Trunks to ca. 20 cm in diameter; bark of older stems gray to pale brown, the young branches terete, whitish to yellowish velutinous or lanate, the indument persistent, the hairs mixed sessile, short-, and partly to mostly long- and thin-stalked, porrect-stellate, multangulate, echinoid, dendritic-multangulate, and dendritic-echinoid.
Sympodial Structure
Sympodial units plurifoliate, axillary leaves present or lacking, ovate to broadly elliptic, often well developed.
Leaves
Leaves simple, the blades usually 11-31 x 4-14 cm, ca. 2.2-3.5 (-4.5) times as long as wide, elliptic to subovate, rather thick-textured, pale to dark green, velutinous adaxially, the hairs touching to densely overlapping, mixed sessile and mostly short- and thick-stalked, porrect-stellate, and few-rayed multangulate, whitish to yellowish tomentose abaxially, the hairs sessile and in part long-stalked, porrect-stellate and multangulate; unarmed; main lateral veins 7-12 on each side of midvein; base acute, cuneate, or if short-attenuate, the blades decurrent only slightly and only at the top of petiole; margin entire; apex long-attenuate; petioles 1-8 cm, ca. 1/10 to 1/4 the length of the blades, velutinous to lanate, the hairs short- to very long-stalked, porrect-stellate, multangulate, and echinoid.
Inflorescences
Inflorescences 5-24 cm, pseudo-terminal, becoming lateral due to continued growth of stem, 3-5 times branched, with ca. 20-100 flowers, all flowers perfect, the axes unarmed, velutinous to lanate, the hairs mixed sessile, short- to very long- and thin-stalked, porrect-stellate, multangulate, and sometimes echinoid; peduncle 4-20 cm, 2.5-7 mm thick; rachis 0.5-2.5 cm; pedicels 2-5 mm long in flower and fruit, spaced 0.3-5 mm apart, articulated at the base.
Flowers
Flower buds 5-6 mm long at anthesis, oblong, orbicular, or turbinate; corolla tomentose in bud, the hairs mixed sessile, short- and long-stalked, porrect-stellate and multangulate; calyx lobe sutures obscured by tomentum. Flowers homostylous, 5-merous. Calyx 4-7.5 mm long, lobed 1/2-3/4 way to the base, subcampanulate to stelliform, relatively thick, rarely faintly ribbed, the tube 2-4 mm, the lobes 2-4 x 1.6-2.8 mm in flower, acute to lanceolate, tomentose to lanate abaxially, the hairs mixed sessile and mostly short- to long- and thick-stalked, porrect-stellate, and multangulate to nearly echinoid, pubescent on distal 1/4 to 1/2 of lobes adaxially, the hairs sessile, porrect-stellate and multangulate; fruiting calyx slightly accrescent, the lobes 3.5-5 x 1.8-3.5 mm. Corolla 1.1-1.5 cm in diameter, ca. 7-10.5 mm long, barely exserted from calyx at anthesis, rotate-stellate, chartaceous, pale lilac to purplish, rarely white, the tube 1.5-3 mm, the lobes 5-8 x 2-3.5 mm, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, with some glabrous interpetalar tissue, acute to acuminate at apices, tomentose abaxially, the hairs mixed sessile, short- and long- and thin-stalked, porrect-stellate and multangulate, glabrous adaxially. Stamens with filaments 0.9-1.6 mm long, inserted on corolla tube ca. 1-1.5 mm above the base, glabrous; anthers 2.2-3.7 x 0.7-1.2 mm, oblong, blunt-tipped, yellow, free, glabrous, dehiscing by large introrse apical-lateral pores that extend into longitudinal slits with age. Ovary conical, tomentose, the hairs mostly sessile and some short-stalked, multangulate and echinoid, many with long rays directed toward apex; style 5-6.5 x 0.2-0.3 mm, terete, exserted from stamens, glabrous to moderately pubescent 1/2 to 2/3 way from the base, the hairs sessile or very short-stalked, multangulate; stigma clavate or capitate.
Fruits
Fruit a fleshy berry, 0.9-1.3 cm in diameter, globose, obtuse at apex, yellow when ripe, the tomentum persistent, with hairs mostly sessile and some short-stalked, multangulate and echinoid, some near apex with long rays directed distally.
Seeds
Seeds 1.7-2.4 x 1.4-1.9 mm, mostly reniform, deltoid or suborbicular, yellowish brown, the testa honeycombed reticulate-punctate.
- "Solanum auriculatum" redirects here. This name and Solanum mauritianum itself have variously been applied to other plants; see below.
Solanum mauritianum is a small tree or shrub native to South America, including Northern Argentina, Southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.[1] It has become a widespread invasive weed in Cook Islands, Fiji, Hawai‘i, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Réunion Island, Mauritius, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, India, and several southern African countries.[2] Its common names include woolly nightshade, ear-leaved nightshade (or "earleaf nightshade"), flannel weed, bugweed, tobacco weed, tobacco bush, wild tobacco and kerosene plant.
The plant has a life of up to thirty years, and can grow up to 10 m (33 ft) tall. Its large oval leaves are grey-green in color and covered with felt-like hairs. The flower is purple with a yellow center. The plant can flower year round but fruiting occurs in late spring to early summer. It is tolerant of many soil types and quickly becomes established around plantations, forest margins, scrub and open land.
As invasive species[edit]
Woolly nightshade has naturalized in New Zealand. It had arrived there by 1880, and is now well established from Taupo northward. Woolly nightshade is poisonous and handling the plants can cause irritation and nausea. The dust from the plant can cause respiratory problems if exposure is prolonged. Because of its ability to affect human health and because of its aggressive and fast growing character it is illegal in all areas of New Zealand to sell, propagate, or distribute any part of the plant.
This plant has also become naturalized in Australia, particularly on the east coast and in desert ranges (South Australia). In Australia this plant is known colloquially as "tobacco bush weed", although Australia possesses many species of Nicotiana which are more correctly known as wild tobaccos.
In South Africa, biological control is being used to control Solanum mauritianum.[1]S. mauritianum is a favoured food plant of the African olive pigeon (Columba arquatrix),[3] the Cape bulbul and red-whiskered bulbul.[4]
Toxicity[edit]
All parts of the Solanum mauritianum plant are poisonous to humans, especially the unripe berries.[2] Human fatalities have resulted from the consumption of the berries, and cases of fatal poisoning in pigs and illness in cows have been reported in Queensland. [5] However, Mountain possums appear to eat it without ill effect, and stripping of bark, leaves and terminal shoots has destroyed pure stands of S.mauritianum.
The main toxic compound is the alkaloid, solasodine, with the highest content in the unripe green berry (2% - 3.5% dry weight).[6]Solauricine, solauricidine, and solasodamine have also been found in Solanum mauritianum.[5]
Synonyms[edit]
The name Solanum mauritianum was applied by Blanco to S. erianthum and by Willdenow based on Roth to S. sisymbriifolium.[7]
In addition, wooly nightshade has a number of synonyms:[7]
- Solanum auriculatum Aiton
- S. auriculatum Mart. ex Dunal in DC. is S. granuloso-leprosum.
- Solanum carterianum Rock
- Solanum pulverulentum Salisb. (non L.: preoccupied)
- S. pulverulentum Nutt. ex Seem. is S. puberulum. Solanum pulverulentum Pers. is S. cutervanum.
- Solanum tabaccifolium Vell.
- Solanum verbascifolium var. typicum Hassl.
- Solanum verbascifolium var. auriculatum (Aiton) Kuntze
- Solanum verbascifolium var. auriculatum Maiden (non Aiton: preoccupied)
- S. verbascifolium L. is S. donianum; S. verbascifolium Banks ex Dunal in DC. is the same as the undeterminable S. stenorchis. Many other Solanum species (S. conglobatum, S. erianthum, S. granuloso-leprosum, S. hazenii, S. riparium, and S. stipulaceum Roem. & Schult.) were once considered varieties of the ill-defined "S. verbascifolium" too.
References[edit]
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- ^ a b Olckersa, T., Zimmermann, H.G., "Biological control of silverleaf nightshade, Solanum elaegnifolium, and bugweed, Solanum mauritianum, (Solanaceae) in South Africa", Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Vol. 37, Issues 1-3, October 1991, Pages 137-155 [1]
- ^ a b Solanum Mauritianum Weed Profile, Global Invasive Species Database
- ^ Gibbs, David; Barnes, Eustace & Cox, John. (2001): Pigeons and Doves. A&C Black, London. ISBN 1-873403-60-7
- ^ http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=1230
- ^ a b Everist, S.L., Poisonous Plants of Australia, Angus & Robertson, revised edition 1981, ISBN 0-207-14228-9
- ^ Vieira, R.F., "Avaliação do teor de solasodina em frutos verdes de Solanum mauritianum Scop. sob dois solos no estado do Paraná, Brasil." MS theses. 1989. Curitiba, Universidade Federal do Paraná.
- ^ a b Solanaceae Source (2007): Solanum mauritianum. Version of August 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-28
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| Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Solanum_mauritianum&oldid=650372415 |