Solanum physalifolium

PLANT: Annual or short-lived perennial herb to 70 cm tall, without tubers or stolons, unarmed; herbage moderately to densely villous, with gland-tipped hairs, some multicellular; stems terete to angled. LEAVES: alternate to sub-opposite, simple, lance-ovate to lance-elliptic, 2-6 cm long, 1-3 cm wide; margin entire to coarsely toothed; base truncate to attenuate; apex rounded to acuminate. INFLORESCENCE: umbel-like racemes, lateral, borne between nodes or sometimes at nodes opposite leaves, (2-)4-8(-12)-flowered; peduncle 5-30 mm long. FLOWERS: actinomorphic; pedicel 2-15 mm long; calyx 1-3 mm long, the lobes lanceolate to rounded, reaching about 1/4 to 2/3 the length of the tube; corolla actinomorphic, rotate to weakly campanulate (this sometimes not obvious in dried specimens), white or white tinged with purple, with basal brownish star, 3-6 mm in diam., with broadly triangular lobes; style as long as stamens or up to 1 mm longer,pubescent ± half its length; stamens of ± equal length, 1.5-2(-2.5) mm long; anthersconnivent; filaments less than 1 mm long. FRUITS: orbicular, 6-9 mm wide, dark green to purple to brownish-green, at least lower half of mature fruit covered with enlarged calyx; sclerotic granules 0-5; seeds 1-2 mm wide, orbicular, orange-brown in dried specimens. [S. sarrachoides Sendtn. and S. villosum (L.) Mill. have been misapplied]. NOTES: Infrequent in disturbed areas: Coconino, Maricopa, Navajo, Yavapai cos. (Fig. 2E); 900-2100 m (~3000-7000 ft); Jun-Oct; throughout N. Amer. excluding se states; introduced from S. Amer. REFERENCES: Chiang, F. and L.R. Landrum. Vascular Plants of Arizona: Solanaceae Part Three: Lycium. CANOTIA 5 (1): 17-26, 2009.