Solanum goetzei Dammer

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Photo: Bart Wursten
Sandforest Loop, Gorongosa National Park

Photo: Bart Wursten
Forest road, Nhago area, Coutada 12

Photo: Warren McCleland
28 km south of Mocimboa da Praia

Photo: Bart Wursten
Area behind junction of road 1 and road 2, Gorongosa National Park.

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Synonyms:	Solanum muha Dammer Solanum pauperum sensu auctt. et collectt. afr. var. non C.H. Wright (1894)
Common names:	Goetze's bitter-apple (English)
Frequency:
Status:	Native
Description:	Unarmed perennial herb or small shrub, usually less than 2 m tall. Branches densely covered with small stellate hairs at first, gradually becoming hairless. Leaves lanceolate to obovate, 3–22.5 cm long, thinly textured with 5–9 pairs of lateral veins, whitish hairy when young but soon becoming sparsely hairy to quite hairless, gradually narrowing into the petiole and more or less unequal-sided at the base; margin somewhat undulate or entire, tending to dry blackish; petiole 0.5–4.5 cm long. Inflorescences leaf-opposed or leaf-remote, 1.5–3 cm long, 3–24-flowered; peduncle 0.1–1.8 cm long. Flowers (4)5-merous, more or less nodding; pedicels 5–11 mm long, slender, often densely hairy at first, becoming hairless except at the base, elongated to 16 mm in fruit, somewhat thickened towards the top, ascending or erect. Calyx 2–4(5) mm long; lobes somewhat unequal, ovate-triangular to triangular-elongate or broadly obovate, 0.5–3 mm long, enlarged in fruit enlarged to 5 mm long, more or less reflexed. Corolla bluish to pale violet, lilacineous or sometimes white 8–15 mm across; lobes linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, 3–8 mm long, more or less densely hairy outside mainly on the median part. Fruit globose, 6–10 mm in diameter, shining bright to deep red when ripe.
Notes:
Derivation of specific name:	goetzei: after Walter Goetze (1872-1899), German naturalist, explorer, photographer and collector of botanical and zoological specimens in Tanzania.
Habitat:	Dry forest margins and understorey, savanna woodland and coastal bushland, sometimes on termite mounds or around granite outcrops, disturbed areas, particularly along roads
Altitude range:	0 - 1190 m
Flowering time:	Oct - Feb
Worldwide distribution:	Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe
Mozambique distribution:	N,MS,GI,M
Growth form(s):
Endemic status:
Red data list status:
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Content last updated:	Tuesday 22 December 2020
Literature:	Burrows, J.E., Burrows, S.M., Lötter, M.C. & Schmidt, E. (2018). Trees and Shrubs Mozambique Publishing Print Matters (Pty), Cape Town. Page 864. (Includes a picture). Gonçalves, A.E. (2005). Solanaceae Flora Zambesiaca 8(4) Page 91. Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 80. Welman, W.G. (2008). The genus Solanum (Solanaceae) in southern Africa: subgenus Leptostemonum, section Giganteiformia Bothalia 38(1) Pages 42 - 43. (Includes a picture).

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Flora of Malawi: Solanum goetzei
Flora of Zambia: Solanum goetzei
Flora of Zimbabwe: Solanum goetzei

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Solanum goetzei
African Plant Database: Solanum goetzei
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Solanum goetzei
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Solanum goetzei
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Solanum goetzei
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Solanum goetzei
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Solanum goetzei
JSTOR Plant Science: Solanum goetzei
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Solanum goetzei
Plants of the World Online: Solanum goetzei
Tropicos: Solanum goetzei
Wikipedia: Solanum goetzei