 Sketch of fruits by D. E. Symon in J. Adelaide Bot. Gard. 4: 339, fig. 156H (1981) - these could possibly be S. rixosum since some of the material treated as S. furfuraceum by Symon is now treated as S. rixosum. |
 Distribution map generated from Australia's Virtual Herbarium. |
Synonymy
Solanum furfuraceum R. Br., Prodr. 446 (1810)
T: Qld, Broadsound, Sep 1802, R. Brown s.n.; lecto: BM (Bennett No. 2672); isolecto: MEL 11620 (fide Symon 1981). An image of the type specimen can be seen on the Solanaceae Source site.
Description
Erect shrub to 2 m, dark drab-green, pubescent with stellate hairs, the hairs sparse on upper leaf-surface, moderately dense on lower surface; prickles to 1 cm long, scattered on young growth, absent from mature growth and infloresence.
Leaves discolorous. Mature leaves broadly lanceolate to elliptic; lamina mostly 6-9 cm long, 3-4 cm wide, sometimes larger, entire or shallowly lobed; petiole to 1.5 (4.5) cm long. Juvenile leaves broadly ovate, the lamina up to 17 cm long, 12 cm wide, shallowly lobed; petiole 1-4 cm long.
Inflorescence 3-9-flowered; peduncle to 5 mm long; rachis to 1 cm long, pedicels 8-10 mm long. Calyx 5-8 mm long; lobes lanceolate with linear apices, 4-8 mm long, slightly longer in fruit. Corolla broadly stellate, 25-35 mm diam., bluish-purple. Anthers 4-6 mm long.
Description from Flora of
Erect, rhizomatous perennial shrub, 1–3 m high. Juvenile branchlets with 60–90 prickles per dm; leaves (in outline) ovate, entire or shallowly-lobed, with 2 or 3 pairs of lobes; lamina 6–8 cm long, 2.5–4 cm wide, with 2–10 prickles on upper surface. Adult stems bark furrowed, corky. Adult branchlets brown; prickles absent or present, 0–15 per dm, straight, acicular, 4–10 mm long, 9–12 times longer than wide; stellae dense, 0.4–0.9 mm diameter, stalks 0.1–0.6 mm long; lateral rays 4–8, porrect; central ray 1–1.5 times as long as laterals, not gland-tipped; finger hairs absent; Type 2 hairs absent.
Adult leaves ovate, entire; lamina 3–11.5 cm long, 1.1–4.5 cm wide, 2.1–2.7 times longer than broad, apex acute, base cuneate or obtuse, oblique part 0–7 mm long, obliqueness index 0–7 percent; petioles 0.5–1.3 cm long, 8–18% length of lamina, prickles absent. Upper leaf surface green; prickles 0–2, straight, acicular, 5–7 mm long, prickles absent or present on mid-vein only; stellate hairs distributed throughout; proto-stellae present; ordinary stellae density sparse to moderate, 0.4–0.7 mm apart, 0.4–0.8 mm across, stalks 0–0.3 mm long; lateral rays 4–7, porrect to ascending; central ray 1–2 times as long as laterals, not gland-tipped; finger hairs present, 0.1–0.3 mm apart, not gland-tipped, 0.1–0.3 mm long; Type 2 hairs absent. Lower leaf surface yellowish or rusty; prickles absent; stellae dense, 0.1–0.3 mm apart, 0.6–1 mm diameter, stalks 0.1–0.7 mm long; lateral rays 4–8, porrect; central ray 1–2 times as long as laterals, not gland-tipped; finger hairs absent; Type 2 hairs absent.
Inflorescence leaf opposed, pseudo-racemose, common peduncle 9–12 mm long, rachis prickles absent; 5–8- flowered, weakly andromonoecious, flowers 5-merous; pedicels 2–8 mm long at anthesis, same thickness throughout, 0.5–0.7 mm thick at mid-point, prickles absent. Calyx tube 1.5–3.5 mm long, lobes deltate or attenuate, 2–5 mm long; prickles absent at anthesis; stellae dense, transparent, 0.5–0.8 mm across, stalks 0–0.2 mm long, lateral rays 4–8, central ray 1–1.5 times as long as laterals, not gland-tipped or gland-tipped; finger hairs absent; Type 2 hairs present. Corolla mauve or purple, 9–17 mm long, shallowly lobed, inner surface glabrous or sparsely stellate-hairy; anthers 4.5–7 mm long; ovary glabrous; functional style 8.5–10 mm long, erect, glabrous or with stellate hairs only, stellae c. 0.4 mm across, lateral rays c. 4, central ray c. 2 times as long as laterals.
Fruiting calyx with lobes less than half length of mature fruit, prickles absent. Mature fruits 1–3 per inflorescence, oblate or globular, 15–21 mm diameter, yellowish-green or green, 2-locular; placenta in cross-section stalked, anvil-shaped; mesocarp moist but not juicy; exocarp 2–2.6 mm thick; pedicels 4–8 mm long in fruit, 0.6–0.8 mm thick at mid-point; seeds pale yellow, 2.5–2.6 mm long. Corky Nightshade.
Bean's description of the re-circumscribed S. furfuraceum, reproduced, with permission, from Austrobaileya 6: 766 (2004).
Bean has another more detailed description of this species at http://delta-intkey.com/solanum/www/furfurac.htm< /A>
Distribution and ecology
Originally recorded by Symon (1981) as occurring in higher rainfall areas of Great Dividing Range in eastern Qld and north-eastern N.S.W., usually on margins of rainforest.
Changed circumscription of the species by Bean (2004) now restricts the species to inland coastal Qld from Townsville to Gayndah. Recorded from vine thicket, brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) or Brachychiton rupestris communities or eucalypt woodland.
Relationships
Solanum furfuraceum is now considered to be restricted to sub-coastal Qld areas (Bean 2004). Specimens previously attributed to it from NSW are now predominantly attributed to S. rixosum .
S. rixosum differs from S. furfuraceum by its
- non-corky thin bark in comparison to thick furrowed corky bark of S. furfuraceum
- sparse stellate hairs on the upper leaf surface, these somewhat denser in S. furfuraceum
- fruiting pedicels longer, 17-26 mm, compared with 4-8 mm in S. furfuraceum
- calyx lacking glandular hairs, these present in S. furfuraceum
- ovary with mixed stellate and glandular hairs, glabrous in S. furfuraceum
- thinner exocarp or "skin", c. 1 mm thick, compared with the 2-2.5 mm thick skin in S. furfuraceum
S. furfuraceum is also closely related to S. sporadotrichum . Both species have a corky bark but they differ in the entire leaves of S. furfuraceum, lobed in S. sporadotrichum and the presence of simple glandular hairs on the upper leaf surface of S. furfuraceum, these absent in S. sporadotrichum .
Considered by Bean (2004) to be a member of the S. macoorai group of subgen. Leptostemonum.
Selected specimens
Specimens cited by Bean (2004)
From the web
A photograph of this species by Hugh & Nan Nicholson can be seen on the Terania Rainforest Publishing Photo Library site.
Images of the fruit, bark and upper leaf surface can be accessed through Bean's descriptionof this species at http://delta-intkey.com/solanum/www/furfurac.htm
Further information and links for this species can be found on the Solanaceae Source site.