Solanaceae
Annual or perennial herbs, shrubs, or less commonly small trees. Lvs alternate, sometimes opposite in infl., exstipulate, simple or pinnate, commonly foetid when crushed. Infl. very variable, commonly cymose. Fls usually actinomorphic, ⚥. Calyx (3)-5-(10)-toothed, shallow to deeply lobed, usually persistent. Corolla usually 5-lobed, occasionally more, sometimes subentire, rotate, salverform, funnelform, tubular, urceolate, or campanulate; lobes plicate or valvate in bud. Stamens 5-(8), epipetalous, alternating with lobes; anthers opening by slits or pores. Ovary superior, 2-(5)-celled; placentation axile; carpels obliquely positioned in the fl.; ovules numerous. Style simple; stigma entire or 2-lobed. Fr. a capsule or berry. Seeds endospermic, usually numerous, sometimes carunculate; embryo straight or coiled.
SYNOPSIS
- A. Subfam. CESTROIDEAE
- Embryo straight or somewhat bent, not strongly curved. Seeds never compressed and discoid, usually prismatic, or subglobose, sometimes reniform:
- Browallia L. Brunfelsia L. CestrumNicotianaNierembergia Ruíz Lopez et Pavón PetuniaSalpiglossisSchizanthus Ruíz Lopez et Pavón Streptosolen Miers Vestia Willd.
- B. Subfam. SOLANOIDEAE.
- Embryo coiled or strongly curved. Seed compressed, discoid or reniform:
- AtropaBrugmansiaCapsicum L. CyphomandraDaturaHyoscyamusIochroma Benth. LyciumLycopersiconNicandraPhysalisSalpichroaSolandra Sw. Solanum
Key
c. 90 genera, 2000 spp., mostly subtropical and tropical regions, especially America, occasionally temperate.
The Solanaceae is a very important family in N.Z.; in addition to the genera described as wild below, others are very common in cultivation as ornamental, edible or medicinal plants. Because of the frequency of powerful alkaloids many Solanaceae are poisonous, however, some are valued as a source of drugs. Solanaceous plants usually grow very readily from seed or by vegetative means and thus readily naturalise. The following synopsis includes some prominent genera which are only in cultivation at present in N.Z. Occasionally young spontaneous plants of some of them occur around the cultivated parents. One sp., Capsicum annuum L., green pepper or bell pepper, was recorded, presumably as wild, by Hooker (1867) but no specimen has been seen, although it is very commonly cultivated.
Two subfamilies are generally accepted (see, D'Arcy, W. G., in Hawkes, J. G., Lester, R. N. and Skelding, A. D. (Eds) The Biology and Taxonomy of the Solanaceae (1979). Other authorities have proposed division of these subfamilies into tribes but these are much less widely used.
