Solanum prinophyllum

Forest Nightshade at Wonboyn, NSW

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Identification history

Unidentified

6 Jul 2019

wickedtatz

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User's notes

Plant is very low growing, but spreads to about 500 mm. It has very fine thorns covering most of the plant (fruit excluded). Thorns also cover both the top and underside of the leaves. Fruit similar in size to cherry tomatoes, however are variegated light and dark green, like gooseberries.

4 comments

BettyDonWood wrote:

7 Jul 2019

It is Solanum prinophyllum or Solanum pungetium. The Vicflora key separates them on whether the lower surface of the leaves is densely to moderately hairy with star-shaped hairs that radiate from a point (pungetium) or sparsely hairy with star shaped hairs (prinophyllum).

wickedtatz wrote:

7 Jul 2019

Thank you so much for the information Betty.

JackieMiles wrote:

8 Jul 2019

For the sake of getting this off the unidentified page I'm going to stick my neck out and call it prinophyllum. Our photos of the two species show that species as having a glossy leaf upper surface, which I can just see in the upper one of the two leaves in the 1st photo, and pungetium is dull and hairy on both surfaces. Both are around locally, with prinophyllum a bit more likely to pop up after disturbance and pungetium just being around all the time in moistish forest. Both are native - people tend to assume they are weeds because of their unpleasant spikiness.

wickedtatz wrote:

8 Jul 2019

Thank you for the information Jackie. My further research (after Betty's identification) leads me to agree with you.

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