Family |
Solanaceae
Solanum villosum
Mill.
Solanum villosum Mill.
First published in Gard. Dict., ed. 8.: n.° 2 (1768).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 3, pp. 198–199, Pl. CXIX, 2–3; 1983)
Description
Life-form & habit: Annual herb, 20–50 cm tall, finely to densely hairy. Mouterde distinguishes a strongly hairy form with unangled stems and a less hairy form with prominent, almost winged stem angles.
Leaves: Ovate-triangular, with slightly sinuate to distinctly sinuate-toothed margins.
Inflorescence & flowers: Few-flowered cymes on short stalks. Corolla hairy, white or faintly violet-tinged; fruiting stalks reflexed and thickened at the tip.
Fruit: Small berries, yellow to orange in Mouterde's subsp. luteum and red in subsp. alatum.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: Throughout the year.
Habitat & elevation: Cultivated land and abandoned ground.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Nahr el Kelb, Aley, Bikfaya and Taanayel; Mouterde also records subsp. alatum at Tripoli, Harissa, Choueir, Broummana, Afqa, Dimane and Qannoubine. Also recorded at Bqaatouta.
Syrian distribution: Bhamra and Damascus; Mouterde additionally records subsp. alatum at Aleppo and Chahba.
Native range: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Assam, Austria, Azores, Baleares, Bulgaria, Burundi, Canary Is., Cape Verde, Chad, China North-Central, Corse, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, Djibouti, East Aegean Is., East Himalaya, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Gulf States, Hungary, India, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kenya, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, North Caucasus, NW. Balkan Pen., Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Portugal, Qinghai, Romania, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Sinai, Somalia, South European Russia, Spain, Sudan-South Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam, West Himalaya, Western Sahara, Xinjiang, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Introduced into: Angola, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, California, Cape Provinces, Central European Russia, Denmark, Florida, Great Britain, Idaho, Illinois, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Korea, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Netherlands, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Northern Provinces, Pennsylvania, Poland, Queensland, Socotra, South Australia, St.Helena, Tadzhikistan, Taiwan, Uzbekistan, Washington, Western Australia.
⚠️ Taxonomic note:
Mouterde treats these plants as Solanum luteum Mill. subsp. luteum (explicitly equated with S. villosum Mill.) and subsp. alatum (Moench) Dostál. Kew includes S. luteum and S. luteum subsp. alatum within the accepted species S. villosum Mill.; the account above retains Mouterde's distinctions.