 Photo: D.E.Symon © D.E.Symon |
 Line drawing by M. Szent Ivany, J. Adelaide Bot. Gards 4 (1981) 218, fig. 92. |
 Sketch of calyx-enclosed fruit by D. E. Symon, J. Adelaide Bot. Gards 4 (1981) 337, fig. 154L. |
 Distribution map generated from Australia's Virtual Herbarium. |
Synonymy
Solanum lachnophyllum Symon, Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Austral. 95: 231; fig. 5 (1971)
T: 58 km E of Meekatharra, W.A., 16 Oct. 1945, C.A. Gardner 7871; holo: PERTH.
Description
Dense, spreading shrub to 1 m, grey-white, densely woolly-pubescent with stellate hairs, glandular hairs also present; prickles to 10 mm long, abundant on stems, fewer elsewhere.
Leaves ovate-lanceolate; lamina 5–8 cm long, 2–3 cm wide, sometimes larger, concolorous, entire; petiole 1–5 mm long. Juvenile leaves up to 32 cm long, 11 cm wide, entire to slightly undulate.
Inflorescence short, 2–3–flowered; peduncle 10–15 mm long; pedicels 5–10 mm long. Calyx 12–17 mm long; lobes narrowly triangular, unequal, 5–10 mm long; tube enlarged in fruit. Corolla shallowly campanulate; tube to 5 mm long; limb broadly stellate to rotate, 30–35 mm diam., purple. Anthers 6–8 mm long. Fruiting calyx-tube to 20 mm long.
Berry ovoid to ovoid-conical, 15–20 mm long, green when ripe, drying brown. Seeds 2.5–3 mm long, pale. n=12.
Distribution and ecology
Restricted to central-western W.A., between Wiluna and Meekatharra, usually growing on stony hillsides.
Relationships
Considered by Bean (2004) to be a member of the S. lasiophyllum group of subgen. Leptostemonum.
Notes
Leaves are reported to be sweet-smelling when fresh.
Glandular hairs are present on these plants as a layer of simple hairs below the very woolly indumentum covering the whole plant. These glandular hairs are best seen in a cross section of a leaf or on the inner surface of the calyx lobes.
Selected specimens
W.A.: c. 51 km W of Wiluna, N.H. Speck 1484 (CANB, PERTH); 19 km W of Wiluna, D.E. Symon 9971 (AD, PERTH).
From the web
Further information can be found on the FloraBase site.