Part of Fig. 30, S. mammosum, J. Adelaide Bot Gard . 4: 104 (1981) by M. Szent-Ivanyi.

Image by Juni from Wikipedia

Group characteristics

Small shrubs with shallowly lobed adult leaves. Stem prickles and branchlet prickles straight, widened or not at base. Stellate hairs lacking on branchlets and leaves but simple hairs present. Inflorescences not branched. Flowers more or less bisexual (weakly andromonoecious), all of similar size, 5-merous, white. Calyx with prickles. Corolla lobes without hairs on inner face. Stamens with anthers all of similar size. Ovary with multicellular glandular hairs only. Mature fruits orange, dry, 25-45 mm diameter, not stellate hairy; calyx lobes less than half length of  mature fruit.

Distribution

About 20 species from the American tropics, 1 or 2 species naturalised in Australia.

Australian members of group

Members of the S. mammosum group of Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum (Bean 2004).

*S. mammosum

*S. capsicoides

See Bean, A.R. (2004). The taxonomy and ecology of Solanum subg. Leptostemonum (Dunal)Bitter (Solanaceae) in Queensland and far north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Austrobaileya 6: 639-816.