Solanum seaforthianum Andr.

 Woody vines, twining by the petioles. Stems terete, glabrous or sparsely pubescent with white simple uniseriate trichomes ca. 0.2 mm long; new growth glabrous or with a few simple uniseriate trichomes on the stems, often drying black. Bark of older stems brown to reddish brown. Sympodial units plurifoliate. Leaves simple or more often pinnatifid to deeply pinnatifid with up to 4 pairs of leaflets, (2-)3.5–10(-13) cm long, (1-)2–9(-11) cm wide, elliptic to broadly triangular in outline, widest in the basal third, membranous, the upper surfaces glabrous or with tiny simple uniseriate trichomes on the veins and margins, these sometimes extending to the lamina near the base, the lower surfaces glabrous; primary veins 4–6 pairs, in lobed leaves corresponding to the number of lobes, often drying yellowish brown; base acute, truncate or slightly cordate, occasionally oblique and asymmetric; margins less commonly entire, usually 3–7 lobed, the lobes to 5 cm long, 2 cm wide, smaller basiscopically; apex acute to acuminate; petioles 1–4 cm long, adaxially pubescent in a tiny groove with tiny simple trichomes like those of the upper leaf surfaces, twining. Inflorescences terminal, later lateral, to 25 cm long or more, with many open, divaricate branches, with up to 100 or more flowers, glabrous; peduncle to 6 cm long; pedicels 0.8–1.4 cm long, ca. 0.5 mm in diameter at the base, ca. 1 mm in diameter at the apex, glabrous, articulated at the base from a small sleeve, leaving a small peg on the inflorescence axis; pedicel scars irregularly spaced 2–6 mm apart, closer together near the tips of the inflorescence branches. Buds globose, slightly inflated, the corolla strongly exserted from the calyx tube long before anthesis. Buds globose, slightly inflated, the corolla strongly exserted from the calyx tube long before anthesis. Flowers all perfect, 5-merous. Calyx tube ca. 0.5 mm long, flattened and open, the lobes < 0.2 mm long, mere apiculae from the entire rim, glabrous with tufts of tiny simple trichomes to 0.2 mm on the apiculae. Corolla 1.1–2.5 cm in diameter, violet or pale violet, stellate, lobed 1/2 to 2/3 of the way to the base, the lobes 5–9 mm long, 3–4.5 mm wide, spreading or slightly cupped at anthesis, densely and minutely pubescent on the tips and margins, the trichomes simple, uniseriate, tangled, otherwise glabrous. Filament tube minute, the free portion of the filaments markedly unequal, the longest filament 2–3 mm long, elongating as anthesis progresses, the other four 1–1.5 mm long, quite variable in length, occasionally with two filaments longer, all glabrous; anthers 2–3 mm long, 1–1.5 mm wide, occasionally one anther slightly larger, ellipsoid, loosely connivent, yellow, poricidal at the tips, the pores not markedly lengthening to slits with age. Ovary glabrous; style 7–10 mm long, strongly curved away from the anther on the long filament, glabrous, sometimes violet; stigma capitate, the surface minutely papillose. Fruit a globose berry, 0.8–1.4 cm in diameter, bright shiny red when ripe, glabrous, the pericarp thin; fruiting pedicels 0.8–1.4 cm long, ca. 1 mm in diameter at base and apex, pendent from weight of berries, not markedly woody. Seeds 4–20 per berry, 4–4.5 mm long, 2.5–3 mm wide, flattened-reniform, pale yellowish tan, the surfaces minutely pitted, the testal cells pentagonal, the lateral cell walls elongate to 0.5 mm long, leaving a wing of ca. 0.5 mm around the seed and the seed appearing pubescent. Chromosome number: n=12 (Sarkar et al. 1980).

Native of the Caribbean area (Mexico to Nicaragua and the W Indies)

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Distribución: En áreas disturbadas, como a la orilla de carreteras y pastizales. También en Vieques, St. Croix y St. Thomas. Nativa de Sudamérica pero cultivada a través de los trópicos.

Bosques Públicos: Carite y Río Abajo.