New Zealand Plant Conservation Network
  • Member login
  • Join
Facebook
  • Home
  • Flora
    • Flora species
    • Vascular
    • Non Vascular
    • Plant identification
    • Fungi
    • Make your own book
    • Quiz
  • Threats
    • Exotic Plants (Weeds)
    • Pest Animals
    • Other threats
  • Ecosystems
    • Plant communities
    • Ecosystem services
    • Novel ecosystems
  • Publications
    • Documents
    • Newsletter
    • Plant lists
    • Botanical Society journals
    • NZPCN publications
  • Conservation
    • Seedbank
    • Training
    • Restoration
    • Monitoring
    • Habitat protection
    • Funding
    • Botanic gardens
  • NZPCN
    • News
    • Trilepidea newsletter
    • Events
    • David Given Scholarship
    • Members
    • Council members
    • Awards
    • Shop
    • Donate
    • Favourite Plant
    • Why join NZPCN?
    • Join
  • Help
    • FAQ
    • Query
    • Glossary
  • Contact us

Search flora

You are here:
  1. Home
  2. Flora
  3. Flora species
  4. Solanum americanum

Solanum americanum

Hutt River Trail, north of Stokes Valley, Lower Hutt.<br>Photographer: Jeremy R. Rolfe, Date taken: 16/04/2006, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0'>CC BY</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Solanum americanum subsp. nutans.<br>Photographer: John Smith-Dodsworth, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Solanum americanum subsp. nutans.<br>Photographer: John Smith-Dodsworth, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>.
Umbel of flowers; forest edge, Bushy Park, Whanganui.<br>Photographer: Colin C. Ogle, Date taken: 16/02/2017, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Plant with flowers; forest edge, Bushy Park, Whanganui.<br>Photographer: Colin C. Ogle, Date taken: 16/02/2017, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>
Download PDF Comment on factsheet

NZPCN members can select up to 20 plant species and automatically create a full colour, fully illustrated A4 book describing them (in PDF format).

  • Find out more...
  • Join NZPCN...
Find in plant lists
iNaturalist NZ View observations Traditional Maori Uses Click here to view Te Papa View specimens Donate Support NZPCN

Common name

small-flowered nightshade

Synonyms

Solanum nodiflorum Jacq.; Solanum nodiflorum subsp. nutans R.J.F.Hend.; S. americanum subsp. nutans ( R.J.F.Hend.) R.J.F.Hend.

Family

Solanaceae

Authority

Solanum americanum Mill.

Flora category

Vascular – Native

Endemic taxon

No

Endemic genus

No

Endemic family

No

Structural class

Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites

NVS code

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

SOLNOD

Chromosome number

2n = 24

Current conservation status

  • Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017

The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: By Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley.

2012 | Not Threatened

Previous conservation statuses

2009 | Not Threatened

2004 | Not Threatened

Distribution

Indigenous. Kermadec, Three Kings, North, South and Chatham Islands. In the North Island locally common to about the Bay of Plenty and Taranaki scarce otherwise. In the South Island reported from Nelson, Marlborough, North Canterbury and Westland. Uncommon on the Chatham Islands. Abundant on northern offshore islands especially the Kermadec Islands. Present also in Australia, Africa, India, south-east Asia and the Pacific.

Habitat

Usually coastal but also found inland in open forested situations up to about 400 m a.s.l. Occasionally an urban weed. S. americanum is the typical Solanum of northern offshore islands where it grows in great abundance on the richly manured, frequently disturbed ground of petrel colonies, and may on occasion form dense thickets.

Features

Small, annual to perennial bright-green to purple-green herb up to 1 x 1 m but usually much less. All parts glabrous to glabrescent except on occasion on very young growth. Branches and branchlets usually unarmed though sometimes furnished on the flanges with sparse blunt-ended hooks. Petioles to 50 mm long. Cauline leaves 40-100 x 15-55 mm, usually bright green rarelt dark green, ovate, ovate-oblong to lanceolate-ovate, entire or distally coarsely toothed to lobulate, sometimes sinuate; base cuneate, broad-cuneate or attentuate, rarely cordate to truncate; apex more or less acute, sometimes acumininate. Flowers in few-flowered umbels. Peduncles 20 mm long, slender; pedicels up to 5 mm long, more or less pendent, markedly deflexing at fruiting. Calyx < 2 mm long, accrescent; lobes very narrowly elliptic to ovate, reflexed at fruiting. Corolla 5-8 mm diameter, stellate, white, pale mauve, glabrous; lobes triangular. Anthers 1.0-1.5 mm long, yellow. Fruit a berry 5-8 mm diameter, globular, glossy black to purple-black, stone cells present, often copious. Seeds 1.0-2.5 mm long, semi-glossy buff to pale orange-yellow or dark yellow, obovate to broadly obovate, sometimes circular, asymmetric, strongly compressed.

Similar taxa

Most frequently confused with S. nigrum with which it often grows on the more disturbed northern offshore islands. From S. nigrum, S. americanum differs by its umbellate rather than pseudoumbellate inflorescences, smaller flowers (5-8 cf 8-13 mm diameter), strongly reflexed, narrow calyx lobes in fruiting specimens, smaller anthers (1-1.6 cf. 2-2.7 mm long), and by the presence of stone cells, these being absent in S. nigrum. Both species are chromosomally distinct with S. nigrum having 2n = 72 and S. nodiflorum 2n = 24 chromosomes. Solanum americanum is indeed the correct name for the New Zealand plant ( S. Knapp pers. comm., July 2017) which has been recently (Manoko et al. 2007) though incorrectly, referred back to S. nodiflorum as S. nodiflorum subsp. nutans). The treatment offered here is for this species (there as S. americanum) by Webb et al. (1988) is correct. A third species, S. opacum, is also present in New Zealand, and that species has caused much confusion between S. americanum and S. nigrum because it has deflexed, broad calyx-lobes, dull black or green coloured fruits with stone cells and stamens which are 1.5 mm long - features ‘intermediate’ between S. americanum and S. nigrum as treated by Webb et al. (1988). However, Webb et al. (1988) state that Solanum opacum is not present in New Zealand which is now known to be incorrect. For differences between S. americanum and S. opacum see the fact sheet of S. opacum.

Flowering

October - April

Flower colours

Violet/Purple, White

Fruiting

November - June

Propagation technique

Very weedy and invasive.

Etymology

solanum: Derivation uncertain - possibly from the Latin word sol, meaning “sun,” referring to its status as a plant of the sun. Another possibility is that the root was solare, meaning “to soothe,” or solamen, meaning “a comfort,” which would refer to the soothing effects of the plant upon ingestion.

Attribution

Fact Sheet prepared for the NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 12 May 2006. Description by P.J. de Lange with some elements based on Allan (1961) and Webb et al. (1988).

References and further reading

Allan, H.H. 1961: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. I. Government Printer, Wellington.

Manoko, M.L.K.; van den Berg, R.G.; Feron, R.M.C.; van der Weerden, G.M.; Mariani, C. 2007: AFLP markers support separation of Solanum nodiflorum from Solanum americanum sensu stricto (Solanaceae). Plant Systematics and Evolution 267: 1-11.

Webb CJ, Sykes WR, Garnock-Jones PJ 1988. Flora of New Zealand. Vol. IV. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch.

NZPCN Fact Sheet citation

Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Solanum americanum Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/solanum-americanum/ (Date website was queried)

▲ Back to top
  • Home
  • Flora
  • Threats
  • Ecosystems
  • Publications
  • Conservation
  • NZPCN
  • Help
  • Contact us

© 2023 New Zealand Plant Conservation Network • Website by RS

Coastlands Plant Nursery Wildlands

Website sponsor

  • Home
  • Flora
    • Flora species
    • Vascular
      • Ferns
        • King fern
        • True ferns
        • Adder's tongue ferns
        • Fork ferns and whisk ferns
        • Horsetails
      • Conifers
        • Celery pines
        • Kauri
        • Podocarps
          • Podocarpus
          • Dacrydium
          • Prumnopitys
          • Dacrycarpus
          • Halocarpus
          • Lepidothamnus
          • Manoao
        • Cypress
      • Flowering plants
        • Parasites
          • Leafy mistletoes
          • Pygmy mistletoes
            • Korthalsella flowers
            • Korthalsella hosts
            • Dispersal of Korthalsella
            • Associates of Korthalsella
          • Root parasites
          • Saprophytes
        • Epiphytes
          • NZ
            • Typical
            • Occasional
            • Hemi-epiphytes
            • Ephemeral
            • NZ list
        • Monocots
          • Orchids
            • Structure
          • Grasses
        • Dicots
          • Hebes
          • Kowhai
          • Coprosma
          • Beech
          • Rata
        • Carnivorous
        • Deciduous plants
        • Aquatic plants
      • Poisonous natives
      • Threatened plant lists
      • What's a vascular plant?
      • Club mosses
    • Non Vascular
      • Bryophytes
        • Liverworts
        • Mosses
        • Hornworts
      • Algae
        • Seaweeds
      • Lichens
    • Plant identification
      • Written descriptions
      • Experts
      • Plant keys
        • Key to parasitic plant genera
      • Collecting plants
        • Should I collect
        • Choosing a specimen
        • Field notes
        • Fresh plant material
        • Pressing and drying
        • Mounting specimens
        • Labelling specimens
    • Fungi
    • Make your own book
    • Quiz
  • Threats
    • Exotic Plants (Weeds)
      • Unwanted organisms
      • DOC weeds
      • Plant me instead
      • Pest Plant Accord
    • Pest Animals
      • Mammals
        • Mustelids
        • Rodents
        • Ungulates
        • Possums
      • Fish
      • Insects
    • Other threats
      • Natural events
        • Insects
      • Human induced
        • Habitat loss
        • Collection
        • Climate change
  • Ecosystems
    • Plant communities
      • Dunes
        • Volcanic
        • Coastal
          • Threats
          • Common species
          • Research on dunes
          • Pingao research
          • What you can do
      • Wetlands
        • Estuaries
          • Common estuarine species
          • Research on estuaries
        • Ephemeral
        • Restiad peat bogs
      • Forests
        • Kauri-podocarp-broadleaved
        • Podocarp broadleaved
        • Beech
      • Scrub/shrublands
        • Geothermal
          • Distribution of geothermal vegetation
          • Geothermal plants
          • Geothermal vegetation types
          • Threats to geothermal vegetation
        • Frost flat/hollow
        • Manuka fens
        • Gumlands
      • Grasslands
        • Tussock grasslands
      • Bare ground
        • Braided rivers
        • Alpine
        • Cliff
        • Scree and boulderfields
        • Shingle beaches
      • Herbfields
        • Saltpan
    • Ecosystem services
    • Novel ecosystems
  • Publications
    • Documents
    • Newsletter
    • Plant lists
      • Plant lists by region
      • Search plant lists
      • National plant lists
      • How to prepare a plant list
    • Botanical Society journals
    • NZPCN publications
  • Conservation
    • Seedbank
      • Project 1 - Pohutukawa, Rata and Myrtaceae
      • Project 2 - Alpine flora and the Forget-Me-Nots
      • Project 3 - Kowhai and its relatives
      • Project 4 - Podocarps and trees of the forest
    • Training
      • Module 1: Plant life
      • Module 2: Covenants
      • Module 3: Propagation
      • Module 4: Wetlands
      • Pilot course 2006
    • Restoration
      • Gardening
        • Being weed wise
        • Garden plants
          • Trees and shrubs
          • Broad-leaved herbs
          • Grass-like herbs
          • Climbers
          • Ferns
        • Attracting wildlife
        • Planting for lizards
          • Rules
      • Species recovery
        • Plant translocations
      • Ecological restoration
        • Case studies
          • Tavora Reserve
          • Waiwhakareke
      • Revegetation
      • Eco-sourcing
      • Find a restoration group
    • Monitoring
      • Number count
        • Number count method
        • Pros and cons of number counts
        • Data analysis and interpretation
      • Presence/absence surveys
        • Presence/absence survey methods
        • Pros and cons of presence/absence surveys
        • Data analysis and interpretation
      • Mapping spatial extent
        • Spatial extent mapping methods
        • Pros and cons of spatial extent mapping
        • Data analysis and interpretation
      • Photo points
        • Photo point guidelines
    • Habitat protection
      • Legal protection
        • Nga Whenua Rahui
        • QEII covenants
        • DOC Covenants
      • Animal pest control
      • Weed control
      • Fencing
    • Funding
    • Botanic gardens
  • NZPCN
    • News
    • Trilepidea newsletter
    • Events
      • Conference 2022
        • Conference programme summary
        • 2022 conference workshops
        • 2022 conference field trips
        • Code of conduct
        • COVID-19 information
        • 2022 conference sponsors
        • Abstract and poster submission
        • 2022 Conference venue and accommodation
        • Conference Workshop: Restoration Pathways
        • 2022 conference postponement
      • Conference 2019
      • Conference 2017
      • Conference 2015
        • Speakers
        • Workshops
        • Field trips
        • Charity auction
      • Conference 2013
        • Speakers
        • Timetable
      • 2023 Restoration Pathways Workshop
    • David Given Scholarship
      • David Given Scholarship Recipients
    • Members
    • Council members
      • NZPCN council member profiles
      • Council 2013
      • Council 2012
      • Council 2011
      • Council 2010
      • Council 2009
      • Council 2008
      • Council 2007
      • Council 2006
      • Council 2005
      • Council 2004
      • Council 2003
    • Awards
      • NZPCN Awards
        • 2019
        • 2018
        • 2017
        • 2016
        • 2015
        • 2014
        • 2013
        • 2012
        • 2011
        • 2010
        • 2009
        • 2008
        • 2007
        • 2006
        • 2005
        • 2022
    • Shop
    • Donate
    • Favourite Plant
    • Why join NZPCN?
    • Join
  • Help
    • FAQ
      • Joining the Network
      • The Network
      • Network website
      • New Zealand plants
      • The law
      • Your discoveries
    • Query
    • Glossary
  • Contact us