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Solanum chenopodioides Lam.
South Florida Status: Critically imperiled. Three occurrences in three conservation areas (Cayo Costa State Park; Gasparilla Island State Park; Stump Pass Beach State Park).
Taxonomy: Dicotyledon; Solanaceae.
Habit: Perennial terrestrial herb.
Distribution: United States, the West Indies, Mexico, Central America, and South America. Wunderlin (1998) records it as common nearly throughout Florida.
South Florida Distribution: Charlotte, Glades, Hendry, Lee, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties, and the Monroe County Keys.
South Florida Habitats: Hammocks, pine rocklands, and coastal uplands.
Protection Status: Not listed by any agency.
Aids to Identification: Taylor (1992) has a color photo.
References: Small, 1933a; D’Arcy, 1974; Long & Lakela, 1976; Taylor, 1992; Wunderlin, 1998.
Synonyms: S. americanum Mill. var. baylisii D’Arcy; S. gracile Link; S. nigrescens M. Martens & Galeotti, misapplied; S. ottonis Hylander.
Historical Context: John Kunkel Small first collected black nightshade in 1915 at Humbugus Prairie, a station north of the Miami River in Miami-Dade County (5573, NY). In 1983, George N. Avery made a collection in a pine rockland in Miami-Dade County (2442, FTG). In 1917 Small collected black nightshade along the western shore of Lake Okeechobee between Fisheating Creek and the Three-Mile Canal in Glades County (8216, GH). E.P. Killip made a collection in 1951 on Big Pine Key in Monroe County (41582, US). George R. Cooley collected it in 1951, in the Devil’s Garden Hammock in Hendry County (797, USF).
Cooley also made collections on Jupiter Island in Palm Beach County in 1956 (4800, USF) and on Sanibel Island in Lee County in 1967 (11850, USF). The next collection from Lee County was made in 1979 by Sandy Morrill and Jud Harvey on North Captiva Island (187, USF), perhaps in what is now Cayo Costa State Park. In 1990, “Phillips et al.” collected it on Cayo Costa Island at Cayo Costa State Park (52, USF). In 1992 Andy Peters and Sally Braem collected it at Gasparilla Island State Park (GI0031, USF). S. Erickson vouchered plants in 1991 at Stump Pass Beach State Park (PC0039, USF). Gann observed fewer than 100 plants there in 2000.
Major Threats: Exotic pest plants invasions; sea-level rise; coastal erosion.
Recommendations: • Map and monitor known stations on a regular basis.