Herbs, undershrubs, shrubs, or small trees, sometimes climbing, unarmed or spiny
Leaves
alternate or paired, entire, lobed or pinnatisect
Flowers
in extra-axillary, dichotomous, racemose or umbellate cymes or in terminal panicles
Calyx
(4)5-10-toothed or -lobed
Corolla
often rotate, (4)5(6)-lobed, sometimes with campanulate tube
Stamens
5(6) arising at varying heights of corolla tube; filaments linear or oblong, shorter than anthers, rarely rudimentary; anthers large, oblong or lanceolate, dehiscing by pores or longitudinal slits
Disc
inconspicuous
Ovary
2(3 or 4)-locular with many ovules in each locule; style terete, with capitate or bifid stigma
Fruit
a globose berry
Seeds
biconvex
x = 12 (23, 41) (aneuploids, high polyploidy, B-chromosomes)
Nomenclature:
Solanum
L.
Linnaeus: 184 (1753)
Wright: 88 (1904)
Henderson & Anderson: 276 (1966)
Jaeger: 1 (1985)
Distribution & Notes:
Global
: Species ± 1400, cosmopolitan, mainly in tropics
Southern Africa
: Species ± 25 indigenous, widespread in all regions, ± 15 introduced species have become widespread weeds
References:
HENDERSON, M. & ANDERSON, J.G. 1966. Common weeds in South Africa.
Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa
No. 37
JAEGER, P.-M.L. 1985.
Systematic studies in the genus Solanum in Africa
. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Birmingham, England
LINNAEUS, C. 1753.
Species plantarum
, edn 1. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm
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Welcome to Biodiversity Advisor 2.0!
Biodiversity Advisor, developed by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and its Data Partners, is a system that will provide integrated biodiversity information to a wide range of users who will have access to geospatial data, plant and animal species distribution data, ecosystem-level data, literature, images and metadata.
The integrated information comes from our much-loved Botanical Database of Southern Africa (BODATSA) also known as Plants of Southern Africa (POSA), Zoological Database of Southern Africa (ZODATSA), Biodiversity Geographic Information System (BGIS), SANBI's institutional repository (Opus) and others.
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In future, Team SANBI will be able to log in using their day-to-day login details, BGIS users will be able to use their existing accounts and details, and general users will be able to log in using their LinkedIn profile, but for now you will need to create an account.
