PLANT: Annual herbs l0-40 cm tall, taller than wide, without tubers or stolons, unarmed, with some branches divergent, pubescent to hirsute.

LEAVES: alternate and sub-opposite,simple, lanceolate to ovate, 1-5 cm long, 1-2.2 cm wide, ca. 2 times as long as wide, the margin entire, the blade membranous; apex acute; base rounded to attenuate; petiole 3-20 mm long.

INFLORESCENCE: usually solitary flowers (rarely 2-flowered).

FLOWERS: actinomorphic; peduncle 6-15 mm long, narrowing at base, strongly deflexed; calyx 3-4 mm long, campanulate, more densely pubescent than leaves, the lobes longer than the tube, linear to oblong; corolla to 10 mm wide, rotate, white, drying yellow; stamens equal; anthers to 3 mm long, not adherent; filaments ca. 1/3 as long as anthers; style straight, about equal to stamens.

FRUITS: 5-8 mm in diam., milk-white, descending, not enclosed by the calyx; seeds 2.5-3 mm long, many, yellow-brown, lustrous, reniform.

NOTES: In shade of shrubs along washes and hillsides, usually in sandy soils; pine-oakwoodlands: Cochise, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz cos. (Fig. 1A); 1000-1700 m (3500-5600 ft); Aug-Sep; AZ to s Mex.; C. Amer.

REFERENCES: Chiang, F. and L.R. Landrum. Vascular Plants of Arizona: Solanaceae Part Three: Lycium. CANOTIA 5 (1): 17-26, 2009.

Duration: Annual

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Herbaceous annuals, to 40 cm tall, usually taller than wide, stems unarmed, with some branches divergent, herbage and calyx pubescent with stiff, spreading hairs or with soft and viscid hairs, plants without tubers or stolons.

Leaves: Alternate and sub-opposite, lanceolate to ovate, 1-5 cm long, 1-2.5 cm wide, (about twice as long as wide), margins entire, apices acute, bases rounded to attenuate, blades membranous, petioles 3-20 mm long.

Flowers: White, actinomorphic, corollas to 10 mm wide, rotate, white, drying yellow, calyx 3-4 mm long, campanulate, more densely pubescent than leaves, the lobes longer than the tube, linear to oblong, stamens equal, anthers to 3 mm long, not adherent, filaments about 1/3 as long as anthers, style straight, about equal to stamens, flowers usually solitary, (rarely 2-4), peduncles 6-15 mm long, narrowing at the base, strongly deflexed.

Fruits: Milk-white, 5-8 mm in diameter, descending, not enclosed by the calyx. Seeds yellow-brown, lustrous, reniform, 2.5-3 mm long, many.

Ecology: Found in sandy soils in the shade of shrubs along washes and hillsides, pine-oak woodlands; 3,500-5,500 ft (1067-1676 m); flowering August-September.

Distribution: s AZ; TX; south through MEX, C. Amer. and S. Amer.

Notes: Look for this species under Solanum deflexum in older texts. A small, erect annual easy to miss; it has hairs all over and especially distinct are the white-to-clear, succulent berries.

Ethnobotany: There is no use recorded for this species, but other species in this genus have uses.

Synonyms: Solanum setosum, S. deflexum, Salpichroa wrightii, Bassovia setosa

Editor: LCrumbacher 2012, FSCoburn 2015

Etymology: Solanum is Latin for "quieting," in reference to the narcotic properties of some species, while the meaning of adscendens is Unknown