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Key to Solanaceae

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1 Leaves all basal, from creeping rhizomes; corolla white; [subfamily Solanoideae].
  2 Leaves broadly elliptical, rounded at the base; corolla lobes > 2× as long as wide, attenuate at the tip; [tribe Jaboroseae]
  2 Leaves ovate, strongly cordate at the base; corolla lobes < 1.5× as long as broad, obtuse (acute) at the tip; [tribe Capsiceae]
1 Leaves all or mainly cauline.
    3 Plant distinctly woody, an upright shrub or scrambling vine.
      4 Corolla ≥ 16 cm long.
        5 Plants vines
        5 Plants large shrubs to small trees
      4 Corolla < 16 cm long.
          6 Flowers white or yellow, the tube > 6× as long as its diameter; fruit either a white berry, or a capsule.
             7 Fruit a white, purple, or black berry; [subfamily Cestroideae; tribe Cestreae]
             7 Fruit a capsule; [subfamily Nicotianoideae]
          6 Flowers lavender or blue, the tube < 3× as long as its diameter; fruit a red, orange, or yellow berry; [subfamily Solanoideae].
               8 Leaves 0.5-7 cm long, 0.2-3.5 cm wide; [tribe Lycieae]
               8 Leaves 10-30 cm long, 4-14 cm wide; [tribe Solaneae]
    3 Plant herbaceous (some taxa keyed here can be robust and tough-stemmed, but are herbaceous, lacking overwintering buds on aerial stems).
                 9 Corolla salverform or narrowly funnel-shaped, with a well-developed tubular portion, this > 1 cm long (except in Calibrachoa) and either flared or essentially isodiametric and > 4× as long as its midpoint diameter, the limb expanding more or less abruptly from the tubular portion; fruit a capsule opening by longitudinal valves or by apical pores.
                   10 Corolla 7-25 cm long, white, pale blue or pale pink; capsule spiny, 3-5 cm long, subtended by a collar formed by the reflexed corolla base; [subfamily Solanoideae; tribe Datureae]
                   10 Corolla 0.6-7 cm long, white, blue, pink, or other colors; capsule smooth, not collared.
                     11 Flowers solitary, axillary; [subfamily Petunioideae].
                       12 Leaves linear to narrowly spatulate
                       12 Leaves oblong, ovate or elliptic
                     11 Flowers in (2-) 3-many flowered racemes or panicles.
                          13 Calyx accrescent in fruit, wholly or partly surrounding the capsule; corolla lavender to blue, with a whitish center; flower bilaterally symmetrical; stamens 4; [subfamily Cestroideae; tribe Browallieae]
                          13 Calyx not accrescent, subtending the mature fruit; corolla white, pink, green, pink, or blue; flower radially symmetrical; stamens 5.
                            14 Leaves broad, > 4 cm wide; corolla tube 1.5-12.0 cm long; [subfamily Nicotianoideae]
                            14 Leaves narrow, linear to narrowly oblancolate, to 0.5 mm wide; corolla tube 1.0-1.4 cm long; [subfamily Petunioideae]
                 9 Corolla either urceolate, campanulate, or rotate, lacking a narrow tubular portion that is both > 1 cm long and > 4× as long as its midpoint diameter; fruit a berry (or circumscissile capsule in Hyoscyamus); [subfamily Solanoideae].
                              15 Fruit a circumscissile capsule; calyx accrescent, nearly enclosing the fruit; corolla cream to yellow, with a maroon center; inflorescence a strongly secund raceme; [tribe Hyoscyameae]
                              15 Fruit a berry (hollow in Capsicum); calyx either accrescent around the fruit or not (and then subtending the fruit); corolla various (but not as above, though in some Physalis yellow and with each petal marked with a purple or maroon spot); inflorescence various.
                                16 Calyx not accrescent, subtending the mature berry.
                                  17 Berries 1.0-2.5 cm long; corolla urceolate (at least slightly constricted at the ‘neck’, just below the lobes of the corolla).
                                    18 Berries nearly spherical, blue-black, 1.0-2.0 cm long, 1.0-2.0 cm in diameter; corolla 2-3 cm long, maroon or purple, and greenish towards the base; plant an upright herb; [tribe Hyoscyameae]
                                    18 Berries elliptical, yellow, 1.5-2.5 cm long, 0.8-1.5 cm in diameter; corolla white 0.7-1.0 cm long, white; plant a trailing or scrambling vine; [tribe Physaleae]
                                  17 Berries 0.3-25 cm long.
                                       19 Locules air-filled; berries usually elongate and irregularly shaped (sometimes ovoidal or spherical; [peppers, chilies]; [tribe Capsiceae]
                                       19 Locules fleshy; berries spherical or ellipsoidal; [nightshades, tomato, potato, eggplant]; [tribe Solaneae]
                                16 Calyx accrescent, wholly or partly surrounding the mature berry.
                                         20 Mature calyx spiny; [tribe Solaneae]
                                         20 Mature calyx glabrous or with hairs.
                                           21 Calyx divided nearly to the auricled base; corolla blue; [tribe Nicandreae]
                                           21 Calyx fused nearly to its summit; corolla white or yellow; [tribe Physalinae].
                                             22 Fruiting calyx bright red (fresh or dry); corolla white; [cultivated and weakly naturalized near gardens]
                                             22 Fruiting calyx green, yellow, or orange, drying brown or tan; corolla yellow, often marked with 5 large maroon or purple spots in the throat; [collectively widespread].
                                               23 Flowers 2 or more per leaf axil; berries with spherical seed-like bodies intermixed with the flattened, reniform seeds; [of the Gulf Coastal Plain]
                                               23 Flowers 1 per leaf axil; berries with flattened, reniform seeds only; [collectively widespread]

Key G4: shrubs and subshrubs with alternate, simple, unlobed, entire leaves

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1 Leaves evergreen. {add to 1a: Ternstroemia in PENTAPHYLACACEAE, Pyracantha in ROSACEAE, Thymelaea in THYMELAEACEAE; Chrysophyllum in SAPOTACEAE; Glycosmis parviflora in RUTACEAE}.
  2 Leaves 1-7 mm long, either acicular and spreading or ovate and appressed to the stems
  2 Leaves > 10 mm long.
    3 Leaves linear, > 15× as long as wide, usually sharply pointed at the apices (Ilex can have pointed apices, but leaves are not linear and marginal teeth often also present); [Monocots]
    3 Leaves broader, < 15× as long as wide, leaf apices variously shaped, if pointed usually not conspicuously sharpened; [Eudicots, Basal Angiosperms, or Monocots].
      4 Plant a creeping subshrub, < 1 dm tall
      4 Plant not creeping, > 3 dm tall (mature plants).
        5 Inflorescence an involucrate head or a raceme or a panicle consisting of spherical heads (Conocarpus in COMBRETACEAE).
          6 Inflorescence an involucrate head, the heads consisting of a receptacle bearing few-many cypselae; plants of various habitats, but not forming dense stands of shrubs in coastal habitats
          6 Inflorescence a raceme or panicle consisting of spherical heads, the fruit densely clustered in conelike heads but not cypselae; leaf abaxial surfaces with conspicuous pit domatia at the junction of midvein and secondary veins; plants salt-adapted shrubs of coastal habitats
        5 Inflorescence not an involucrate head, instead either solitary (Illicium in ILLICIACEAE) or variously branched, spicate, racemose, umbellate, or fascicled.
             7 Flowers with a 5-lobed, fan-shaped corolla opposing a conspicuously protruding and incurved style
             7 Flowers various, but not as above.
               8 Leaves alternate, but usually clustered densely towards branch tips; leaves narrowly oblanceolate, 1-4 cm long; flowers yellow, 5-merous, the petals diminuitive (ca. 4 mm) and clawed basally (the petals often falling off by midday); [of coastal beaches, dunes, and hammocks; FL peninsula]
               8 Plants not with the above combination of traits: leaves longer and variously shaped (if narrowly oblanceolate, leaves much longer than 40 cm long) usually well-spaced throughout the stems (if clustered, then other characters lacking); [plants widely distributed in a variety of habitats].
                 9 Carpels separate; fruit an aggregate; fresh foliage strongly fragrant; [Basal Angiosperms].
                   10 Fruit an aggregate of woody follicles arranged in a whorl
                   10 Fruit an aggregate of red to blackish berries, 4-6 mm long, each on a long stipe, giving the aggregate almost the appearance of an umbel
                 9 Carpels fused; fruit a berry, drupe, acorn (nut), capsule, or legume; fresh foliage not strongly fragrant; [Eudicots, Monocots, and Basal Angiosperms].
                     11 Ovary with 3 carpels; fruit a berry; “leaves” actually cladodes; [Monocots]
                     11 Ovary with 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 carpels; fruit a berry, drupe, capsule, legume, or nut; leaves actually leaves; [Eudicots and Basal Angiosperms].
                       12 Leaves largely covered with silver and/or bronze lepidote scales and/or dense stellate hairs below (visible at 10× or higher magnification), giving the lower leaf surface a slightly shiny to almost metallic appearance. {add Lyonia ferruginea and L. fruticosa in ERICACEAE; add Loropetalum in HAMAMELIDACEAE}
                          13 Petals present, conspicuous, connate, white, the corolla rotate; fruit a berry with several seeds; fresh foliage with a strong, tar-like odor
                          13 Petals absent or inconspicuous, greenish and separate if present (note that the calyx is petaloid and white or yellowish in Elaeagnus of ELAEAGNACEAE); fruit a dry capsule with 3 seeds, or a drupe with a single seed; fresh foliage lacking a strong odor.
                            14 Perianth 4-merous; petals absent; petaloid sepals white to cream, fused and salverform; carpel 1; fruit a fleshy, red drupe, with a single seed
                            14 Perianth 5-merous; petals green and separate, or absent; sepals greenish, separate; carpels 3; fruit a 3-valved capsule with 3 seeds
                       12 Leaves with various vestiture (or glabrous), but not as above.
                              15 Flowers arranged in axillary spikes, umbels of shortened spikes, or sometimes the flowers solitary and leaf-opposing; fruit a drupe or drupe-like.
                                16 Flowers in spikes, axillary umbels (of shortened spikes), or the flowers solitary and leaf-opposing; leaves spaced, the bases oblique; stipules apparent, and clasping the stem; fruit rarely 3-angled (P. auritum), but not ridged; plants unarmed, the stems swollen at the nodes; branches somewhat zig-zagged, not arranged in conspicuous tiers
                                16 Flowers arranged in axillary spikes only; the fruit usually somewhat ridged; leaves clustered at branch tips (except T. arjuna), the bases typically cuneate; stipules reduced to glandular hairs at petiole base; plants armed or unarmed, the stem nodes not conspicuously swollen; branches arranged in tiers, the main branches erect, the lateral spreading horizontally
                              15 Flowers in other types of inflorescences, not spikes, if the inflorescence axillary only, then consisting of panicles or racemes (Cestrum) or subsessile to sessile fascicles (Myrsine and SAPOTACEAE); fruit various (acorns, berries, drupes, capsules, legumes).
                                  17 Leaves 1-foliolate on the upper stems, sometimes 3-foliolate below, or all reduced to phyllodial spines; flowers papilionaceous, bright yellow; fruit a legume; stems bright green
                                  17 Leaves simple throughout; flowers variously shaped but not papilionaceous; fruit not a legume, instead acorns, berries, capsules, or drupes.
                                    18 Flowers apetalous; arranged in catkins (Quercus in FAGACEAE; Morella inodora in MYRICACEAE) OR thyrses (Dodonaea in SAPINDACEAE).
                                       19 Flowers tannish, borne in catkins (these drooping at maturity); fruit a nut in a cupule (acorn)
                                       19 Flowers greenish-red or yellowish-green, borne in thyrses or if in catkins (Morella), these erect and globose in shape; fruit a winged, bladder-like capsule (Dodonaea) or globose, drupe-like, and covered in small, warty protuberances (Morella).
                                         20 Fruit a bladder-like, winged capsule (usually weakly 3-locular), brownish-red or brown when ripened; [peninsular FL from St. Johns County southward]
                                         20 Fruit globose, drupe-like, and covered in small, warty protuberances, blueish purple to black when ripened; [Gulf Coastal Plain from FL Panhandle and sc. GA, w. to e. LA]
                                    18 Flowers not apetalous, with a well-developed corolla, variously colored (white, cream, pink, greenish or reddish-orange), either urceolate OR tubular and with separate and spreading petals (rarely the perianth only consisting of green sepals), arranged in various terminal or axillary inflorescences, or sometimes solitary; fruit either a (3-) 5-valved capsule, or a spherical berry with (1-) 10+ seeds, OR a 1-8 seeded dry or fleshy drupe.
                                           21 Flowers white to pink or reddish-orange, rotate, tubular, or urceolate (the petals also sometimes spreading apically, but united at least basally), in various terminal or axillary inflorescences or solitary; fruit either a 2-5 valved capsule (conspicuously linear-cylindric in CAPPARACEAE), a spherical berry with 10+ seeds OR a drupe bearing 4 bony nutlets (Bourreria).
                                             22 Flowers reddish-orange; corollas bearing post-staminal hairs (appearing as tufts of hair opposite each anther)
                                             22 Flowers white, greenish-white, yellow, or pink; corollas without obvious tufts of hair opposite each anther.
                                               23 Fruit a fleshy berry; inflorescences of axillary fascicles (SAPOTACEAE), axillary and paniculate (Cestrum) or in Solanum, leaf-opposed and variously arranged (terminal, axillary, and extra-axillary).
                                                 24 Plants with milky sap (exuded from petioles when removed from stems); sepals rusty-tomentose; [c. and s. FL only in our area]; {Add Lucuma and Mimusops}.
                                                    25 Fruit a smaller, glabrous berry (< 1 cm in diameter), green, purple, or black, glabrous, not roughened; petioles not with a decurrent adaxial wing forming a groove
                                                    25 Fruit a large, globose berry (2-8 cm in diameter), pale brown in color when mature, the surface roughened in texture; petioles with a decurrent, adaxial wing forming a groove
                                                 24 Plants not exuding milky sap; sepals variously glabrous or tomentose, but not rusty-tomentose.
                                                      26 Leaves 1 per node; inflorescences axillary and paniculate (sometimes with terminal flower clusters present), never leaf opposed (although often bracteate); flowers tubular, the end of the tube often surrounding the anthers
                                                      26 Leaves 1 per node or also paired (on one side of the stem) at some nodes (the leaves then uneven in size); inflorescences leaf-opposed; flowers campanulate, lacking a tubular corolla
                                               23 Fruit not a fleshy berry, instead a valved capsule or a drupe bearing 4 bony nutlets (Bourreria); inflorescences terminal or axillary (or occasionally flowers solitary), never leaf-opposed.
                                                        27 Capsules pendulous and conspicuously elongate-cylindric, borne on a slender gynophore (a specialized stipe bearing the gynoecium); seeds white, grey, tan, or brownish in color and usually contrasting with the bright red interior of the capsules; plants shrubs or sometimes loosely scrambling over other plants; stamens usually much longer than the petals and conspicuously exerted from the flowers
                                                        27 Capsules (or drupes) erect, not linear nor long-cylindric, not borne on a gynophore; seeds variously colored, and sometimes surrounded by a fleshy aril (but the entire capsule interior not bright red); plants shrubs; stamens shorter than or only minimally longer than the corolla (not long exerted)
                                                          28 Seeds without fleshy aril or attachment; ovaries 5-10 carpellate; flowers urceolate; leaves serrate or entire
                                                          28 Seeds with fleshy aril or attachment (or if not fleshy, the seeds nutlets with abaxial ridges, as in Bourreria); ovaries 2-4 carpellate; flowers rotate; leaves entire or very remotely serrulate.
                                                            29 Fruit a drupe, the drupe bearing 4 bony nutlets with abaxial ridges; flowers rotate and salverform (the corolla tube evident), arranged in terminal cymes, the corolla lobes usually orbicular; leaves scabrous or hispid (except B. succulenta)
                                                            29 Fruit a capsule (the seeds with fleshy arils or attachments); flowers rotate, but not salverform (the corolla tube not lengthened), arranged solitary, few, or in cymes, terminal or axillary, the corolla lobes usually deltoid or somewhat triangular in shape; leaves glabrous or sometimes puberulent (Pittosporum), but the pubescence not rough.
                                                              30 Flowers few, not showy, green to greenish-white, inflorescence not densely arranged (flowers also sometimes solitary); capsules not beaked; leaves not revolute or undulate
                                                              30 Flowers numerous, showy, white; inflorescence densely arranged; capsules with short beak; leaf margins revolute or slightly undulate
                                           21 Flowers white, rotate, the petals spreading, distinct (i.e., separate to the base; nearly so in Myrsine), not tubular; arranged in axillary fascicles or racemes or in subsessile to sessile axillary fascicles (Myrsine); fruit either a fleshy drupe with 4-8 pyrenes, or a dry to leathery single-seeded drupe.
                                                                 31 Plants sometimes with pneumatophores; leaf blades with apical and pit-domatia present; [non-native, s. FL]
                                                                 31 Plants never producing pneumatophores; leaf blades variously pubescent or glandular, but lacking conspcuous marginal or apical pit-domatia; [collectively widespread natives]
                                                                   32 Shrub rhizomatous and colonial; fruit an ellipsoid drupe, 2-3 cm long
                                                                   32 Shrub not rhizomatous; fruit either a fleshy or dry drupe, < 1 cm long.
                                                                     33 Inflorescence an axillary fascicle or cluster, the fascicles short-pedicellate, subsessile, or sessile
                                                                       34 Inflorescence of sessile or subsessile fascicles, the flowers 5-merous, greenish-white (often with pink streaks or dots) and with obvious staminodes; fruit a 1-seeded fleshy to leathery drupe
                                                                       34 Inflorescence of subsessile or short-pedicellate fascicles, the flowers 4-merous, white (lacking pink streaks or dots); fruit a fleshy drupe with 4-8 pyrenes
                                                                     33 Inflorescence an axillary raceme; fruit a dry drupe with 1 seed
1 Leaves deciduous.
                                                                         35 Inflorescence an involucrate head
                                                                         35 Inflorescence branched, spicate, a catkin, or consisting of a solitary flower or axillary clusters or whorls, not an involucrate head.
image of plant
Show caption*© Alan Cressler: Leitneria floridana (male catkin), St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, St. Marks Unit, Wakulla County, Florida 1 by Alan Cressler
                                                                           36 Inflorescence a catkin; flowers unisexual; plants dioecious
                                                                              37 Leaves 3.5-6 cm wide
                                                                              37 Leaves < 3 cm wide
                                                                           36 Inflorescence various, not a catkin; flowers bisexual; plants hermaphroditic.
                                                                                38 Inflorescences consisting of solitary, axillary flowers
image of plant
Show caption*© Michelle Wong, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Michelle W.
                                                                                  39 Fruit a globose, spinose capsule bearing a longitudinal ridge across 1 or both faces, thus essentially resembling a spikey ball; perianth (4-)5-merous, consisting of 3 upper connate petaloid claws and two lower sessile petals; fresh plants without a strange musky odor; [Eudicots]
                                                                                  39 Fruit an oblong berry, greenish-yellow when ripe, not bearing small spines; perianth 3-4-merous, without connate petaloid claws; fresh plants fragrant with a strange, musky odor; [Basal Angiosperms]
                                                                                38 Inflorescence of 2 or more flowers; perianth 3-5-merous; fresh plants not musky-fragrant; fruits various, not as above.
                                                                                    40 Flowers 3-merous; fruit fleshy, red or greenish-yellow at maturity; ovary superior; [Basal Angiosperms or Eudicots].
                                                                                      41 Leaves elliptic or narrowly elliptic, broadest near the middle; fresh plants strongly fragrant with a citrus-like aroma; stems unarmed; fruit a drupe, with a single seed
                                                                                      41 Leaves obovate or oblanceolate, broadest near the apex; stems armed with nodal spines; fresh plants not fragrant; fruit a berry, with several seeds.
                                                                                    40 Flowers 4-5-merous; fruit fleshy or dry, black, blue, brown, tan, or red at maturity; ovary superior or inferior; [Eudicots].
                                                                                        42 Fruit a 4-5-valved capsule with many seeds; inflorescence either terminal, a corymb or panicle, or an axillary whorl
                                                                                        42 Fruit either a drupe or berry (indehiscent, and variously fleshy or dry) or a dry 3-valved capsule with 1 seed; inflorescence axillary (solitary, clusters, fascicles, or racemes), or in a terminal raceme (Pyrularia in SANTALACEAE).
                                                                                           43 Leaves largely covered with silver and/or bronze shiny lepidote scales below, giving the lower leaf surface an almost metallic appearance
                                                                                           43 Leaves with various vestiture, but not as above.
                                                                                             44 Ovary inferior or half-inferior; inflorescence an axillary cluster or raceme, or a terminal raceme.
                                                                                               45 Fruit a spherical berry, with 10 or more seeds
                                                                                               45 Fruit an elongate drupe (definitely longer than thick), with 1 seed.
image of plant
Show caption*© Keith Bradley
image of plant
Show caption*© Richard & Teresa Ware
                                                                                                 46 Fruit 15-30 mm long; inflorescence a terminal raceme
image of plant
Show caption*© Keith Bradley
image of plant
Show caption*© Gary P. Fleming
                                                                                                 46 Fruit 6-10 mm long; inflorescence an axillary fascicle
                                                                                             44 Ovary superior; inflorescence an axillary cluster or an axillary raceme (borne themselves in clusters).
                                                                                                   47 Fruits elongate, 8-20 mm long.
                                                                                                     48 Fruit a red or orange berry, 8-20 mm long; leaves usually on spur-shoots; [salty coastal areas, or exotics of disturbed situations]
                                                                                                     48 Fruit a yellowish-green drupe, 12-15 mm long; leaves on main stems; [rich forests, mainly inland]
                                                                                                   47 Fruits spherical, < 10 mm long.
                                                                                                        49 Inflorescence a narrowly cylindrical raceme, clustered several to many at the tip of the previous year’s wood and below the current season’s growth; fruit < 3 mm in diameter
                                                                                                        49 Inflorescence an axillary cluster; fruit > 4 mm in diameter
                                                                                                          50 Fruit dry, opening by 3 valves, 1-seeded; leaf pubescence stellate
                                                                                                          50 Fruit fleshy, with 4-8 seeds; leaf pubescence simple or absent.
                                                                                                            51 Fruit yellow to red, the pedicel 10-30 mm long; leaf venation pinnate, but irregular and reticulated
                                                                                                            51 Fruit dark red to black, the pedicel < 10 mm long; leaf venation very neatly pinnate, with the secondary veins nearly straight and parallel to one another