Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Solanum americanum Mill., Gard. Dict., ed. 8. (1768)
Synonymy:
  • = Solanum nodiflorum Jacq. (1789 [1788])
  • Solanum americanum var. nodiflorum (Jacq.) Edmonds (1971)
  • Solanum americanum subsp. nodiflorum (Jacq.) R.J.F.Hend., Austrobaileya 2: 555 (1988)
  • = Solanum nodiflorum subsp. nutans R.J.F.Hend., 16 (1974)
  • Solanum americanum subsp. nutans (R.J.F.Hend.) R.J.F.Hend., Austrobaileya 2: 555 (1988)
Vernacular Name(s):
Pōporo; Poroporo; Raupeti; Remuroa; small-flowered nightshade
 Description

Unarmed annual or short-lived perennial herb, often bushy, up to 1 m tall, nearly always glabrous or almost so except when very young. Petioles to 5 cm long. Lamina very variable, in cauline lvs usually 4–10 × 1.5–5.5 cm (lvs at base of lateral shoots often smaller), ovate, ovate-oblong or lanceolate-ovate, entire to coarsely but distantly toothed or lobulate and sometimes with axillary leaflets; base broad-cuneate or attenuate; apex ± acute. Umbels few-flowered, with slender peduncles to c. 2 cm long at anthesis; pedicels becoming deflexed at fruiting. Calyx < 2 mm long, accrescent; lobes ovate to almost elliptic, usually strongly reflexed at fruiting. Corolla 5–8 mm diam., white or very pale mauve, glabrous; lobes ± triangular. Anthers 1–1.6 mm long. Berry 5–8 mm diam., globular, black, glossy; stone cells present. Seeds 1–2 mm long, broadly obovoid to almost orbicular.

[From: Webb et al. (1988) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Non-endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Jan.–Dec.

 Bibliography
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Not Threatened]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [as Solanum nodiflorum Jacq.] [Not Threatened]
Henderson, R.J.F. 1974: Solanum nigrum L. (Solanaceae) and Related Species in Australia. Contributions from the Queensland Herbarium 16: 1–78.
Henderson, R.J.F. 1988: New combinations for Solanum americanum Miller (Solanaceae) in Australia and New Zealand. Austrobaileya 2(5): 555.
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 senu stricto (Solanaceae). Plant Systematics and Evolution 267: 1–11.
Miller, P. 1768: The Gardeners Dictionary. Vol. No. 17. Edition 8. London.
Särkinen, T.; Poczai, P.; Barboza, G.E.; van der Weerden, G.M.; Baden, M.; Knapp, S. 2018: A revision of the Old World Black NIghtshades (Morelloid clade of Solanum L., Solanaceae). PhytoKeys 106: 1–223.