Sonoita nightshade

Salpichroa wrightii A. Gray 1886, not Solanum wrightii Bentham 1861

Herbs, annual, erect, unarmed, 0.1–0.3(–0.4) m, sparsely to densely pubescent, hairs 1–2-celled, unbranched, 1–2 mm, eglandular. Leaves petiolate; petiole 0.5–2 cm; blade sim­ple, elliptic to elliptic-ovoid, 1–4.5 × 0.5–2.5 cm, margins entire, base rounded to obtuse and often decurrent. Inflorescences nearly sessile, extra-axillary or sub­opposite leaves, unbranched, racemelike, 1–5-flowered. Pedicels 0.5–1.2 cm in flower, 1–2 mm and spreading or nodding in fruit. Flowers radially symmetric; calyx not accrescent, unarmed, 3–9 mm, moderately to densely pubescent, lobes linear-lanceolate; corolla white, rotate, 0.5–1 cm diam., with abundant interpetalar tissue; stamens equal; anthers oblong, slightly tapered, 1.5–3 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits; ovary glabrous. Berries white to greenish and semitransparent, globose, 5–12 mm diam., glabrous, without sclerotic granules. Seeds light brown, somewhat flattened, ca. 2.5 × 1.5 mm, notched where connected to placenta, ridged.

Flowering Aug–Sep. Sandy soils in grazed areas, roadsides, disturbed areas in dry forests; 1000–1700 m; Ariz.; Mexico; Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua).

Solanum deflexum occurs sporadically in south­eastern Arizona (Cochise, Pima, Pinal, and Santa Cruz counties). It is unique in its fruits with explosive dehis­cence. As the berries mature, they build up turgor pressure until they burst, propelling seeds up to several feet from the parent plant. Plants of S. deflexum were often identified as S. adscendens Sendtner (M. Nee 1989), a distinct species found only in South America (S. Stern et al. 2013).