Solanum triste
In dry forest and secondary growth in coastal eastern Venezuela, Trinidad, Martinique, and Dominica, from sea level to 200 m.
Solanum triste is a member of the Solanum sessile species group (Knapp, 2002) of the Geminata clade (Bohs, 2005).
Knapp, S. 1991. A cladistic analysis of the Solanum sessile species group (section Geminata pro parte: Solanaceae).
J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 106: 73-89.
Knapp, S. 2002. Solanum section Geminata (G. Don) Walpers (Solanaceae).
Flora Neotropica 84: 1-405.
Bohs, L. 2005. Major clades in Solanum based on ndhF sequences.
Pp. 27-49 in R. C. Keating, V. C. Hollowell, & T. B. Croat (eds.), A festschrift for William G. D’Arcy: the legacy of a taxonomist. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 104. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.
Solanum triste is related to S. turgidum of higher elevations on the Paria peninsula (Sucre, Venezuela), from which it differs in its white flowers, pubescent leaves, longer fruiting pedicels, and second growth habitat (see Knapp, 1991b). Solanum triste is a rank second growth weed, and grows in large stands at the edges of pastures. The leaves are quite foetid smelling, and this characteristic is reflected in the common name of this plant in Venezuela. Near Cumanacoa, Venezuela, the leaves of S. triste are fed upon by the larvae of the ithomiine butterfly Pteronymia latilla (see Table XI in Knapp, 2002). These caterpillars were quite common where I collected them, and defoliated plants of S. triste.