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 Flower and leaves Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Plant Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | | | | |
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Origin:
Introduced
Life Cycle:
Annual Similar Species: Solanum dulcamara, S. nigrum, S. sarrachoides
General Desc:
Mat-like annual with sprawling stems often growing close to the ground, sometimes erect. Leaves are deeply divided and grow to 4 inches long. Rounded clusters of 3 (often) small, white, star-like flowers with yellow centers grow between the leaf and stem.
Identification notes: Annual, herbage sparsely hairy with appressed hairs; stems tend to lay on the ground; deeply pinnatifid leaves, flowers white or whitish, tend to be in clusters of 3 but can be 1 to 3; round fruits are not enclosed by the calyx.
Height:
To about 16 inches long
Habitat Description: Roadsides, cultivated fields, washes, streamsides, dry scrub lands and juniper woodlands, often in sandy soil.
Plant Communities:
Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest, Riparian, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 1000 - 7500 feet
Color:
White, whitish
Shape:
Regular in round clusters
Tubular:
Y
Flowering Period:
May - Sep
Description:
Small, star-shaped flowers are 1/4 inch wide, have 5 petals and a yellow center. Flowers are usually white (rarely pale lavender) or whitish and tinged with green. Blooms grow in rounded clusters of 1 to 3 (often 3) and have a sweetish scent.
Leaf Color:
Green
Leaf Type:
Simple
Leaf Shape:
Pinnatifid
Leaf Margin:
Dissected
Leaf Attachment:
Alternate
Leaves Clasp:
N
Hairs:
Leaves and stems
Spines:
N
Leaf Description:
Stems branch from the base and may grow to 1-1/2 feet tall when erect. Leaves are oval in outline, often deeply dissected, 3/4 to 4 inches long, 1/2 to 1 inch wide, often with a foul odor if rubbed. The lobe margins are thickened and curve backwards.
Fruit Color: Green streaked with white
Fruit Type: Berry-like
Fruit Notes: Fruit is smooth and fleshy with a globe-like shape. It is 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide, somewhat glossy, and has a marbled green color (streaked with white) at maturity.
Seed Notes: Each seed is flat, nearly circular, light brownish-yellow and about 1/8 inch long. Many seeds are produced by the fruit which does not open to release the seeds when mature.
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