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habit with flower |
fruit |
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Solanum argenteum Dunal ex Poir.Solanaceae - Tobacco Family |
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Description. Treelet mature at 2-8 m; twigs slender, covered with whitish, scale-like, stellate hairs; leaves distichous, mostly solitary, but paired where an inflorescence arises, petiole 8-10 mm, blade to 6 x 14 cm, dark green above, glossy white below with dense, appressed scale-like hairs, elliptic to lanceolate, vains keeled above, weakly bullate, minor leaves ovate, 30-50% the length of major leaves; inflorescence arising next to minor leaf, peduncle to 5 cm, bent somewhat underneath major leaf, branched apically; flowers with corolla lobes green-white, 4 mm long, anthers yellow, blunt, 2 mm; fruit globose black berries to 10 mm, pedicels 7-9 mm, apically thickened; strong acrid odor in shredded leaf. Similar species. Solanum schlechtendalianum has leaves with white underside, but the stellate hairs are not scale-like and the leaf is not glossy. Local distribution. Pacific slope at 1000- 1500 m; Atlantic slope from lowlands to 1300 m. Habitat. Old pastures, forest edge, light gaps and stream margins in forest. Species range. Mexico to Brazil. Abundance. Uncommon
Phenology. FL: may; FR: may-jun. Herbivores. Pollinators. Bees Seed dispersers. Birds, bats? Comments. Not known to be an ithomiine hostplant. Very similar to S. schlechtendalianum, which has an even stronger unpleasant odor. Voucher No. Haber 5834 |
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