Solanum tampicense Dunal, Solanaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  no

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Solanum houstonii Dunal

Common name(s): [more details]

English: aquatic soda apple, wetland nightshade

Spanish: espina de manglar, salsita de agua

Habit:  aquatic herb

Description:  "Shrub, 1 to 2 meters high, the branches armed with stout recurved prickles; leaves petiolate, oblong or oblong-ovate, 13 cm long or less, obtuse or acute, cuneate at base, irregularly lobate, sparsely stellate-pubescent; flowers in axillary umbels or racemes; corolla white, 6 to 11 mm long; fruit red, 6 or 7 mm in diameter, glabrous"  (Standley, 1924; p. 1298).

"A small, woody vine, the stems glabrate, bearing a few minute, sessile-stellate hairs when young, sparsely to densely armed with prickles, the prickles short and recurved; leaves in pairs or solitary, sinuately-lobed to parted, the larger leaves oblong to lance-oblong, 5.5-16 cm long, 2.2-5.5 cm wide, the apex acute, the base attenuate, prickly below and often on the mid-vein above, sparsely pubescent throughout, the hairs sessile-stellate and often with the central ray much longer than the lateral ones above, the hairs sessile-stellate and with subequal rays below; petioles glabrous or sessile stellate-pubescent, 5-15 mm long, often armed with a few long prickles; inflorescences lateral and opposite the leaves, cymose, sessile or subsessile; pedicels glabrous or sparsely sessile stellate-pubescent, 5-8 mm long, recurved in age; calyx 1.5-2 mm long, the lobes mucronate, shallowly lobed in age, nearly always armed with prickles, glabrous or sometimes sparsely sessile stellate-pubescent; corolla white to yellowish-white, the limb 12-14 mm wide, parted nearly to the base, the lobes 5-6 mm long, ciliate and sparsely sessile stellate-pubescent externally; filaments about 1 mm long; anthers 3.5-4 mm long; style 5-6 mm long, glabrous, ovary glabrous; fruit globose, red, 8-8.5 mm in diameter; seeds 2-2.5 mm long."  (Gentry and Standley, 1974; pp. 122-123).

Habitat/ecology:  Tropical wetlands. In Florida (US) it is an invader of cypress swamps and other wetlands.

Propagation:  Seeds and stem sections. Fruit is a berry like a small tomato, containing 10-60 seeds.

Native range:  Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

Presence:

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	USA (Florida)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2005)

Comments:  A declared noxious weed in the US.

Additional information:  Photos and additional information at University of Florida, Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants.

Additional online information about Solanum tampicense is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Solanum tampicense may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Fox, A./Westbrooks, R. 1997. Solanum tampicense: A serious new invader in South Florida. Aliens 5:10-11.

Gentry, Johnnie L., Jr./Standley, Paul C. 1974. Flora of Guatemala. Fieldiana: Botany. Vol. 24, Part X, Nos. 1-2. Chicago Natural History Museum. 151 pp.

Standley, P. C. 1924. Trees and Shrubs of Mexico. Contrib. from the U.S. National Herbarium. 23.

U. S. Government. 2006. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2005. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.