Family: Solanaceae
Group: Dicot
Substrate:
Terrestrial
Habit:
Herb
Perennation:
Perennial
Native Range: Uncertain due to early widespread cultivation, but probably peninsular Florida, the West Indies, southern Mexico, Central America and South America.
IRC SOUTH FLORIDA Status:
Imperiled
Map of select IRC data for peninsular Florida
SOUTH FLORIDA Occurrence:
Present
SOUTH FLORIDA Native Status:
Assumed to be Native
SOUTH FLORIDA Cultivated Status:
Cultivated
Comments: Although we long considered this to be an exotic in South Florida, it may in fact be native to mainland peninsular Florida. The situation is complicated by the myriad taxonomic treatments of this, C. annuum, C. annuum var. glabriusculum and C. baccatum. Reports of C. frutescens from the Florida Keys, for instance, appear to be all misidentifications of C. annuum var. glabriusculum (e.g.
Dickson s.n. FTG). However, on the mainland at least one record from
Miami-Dade County and one record from
Hendry County appear to be correctly identified and possibly native. C. frutescens can be distinguished from C. annuum var. glabriusculum by its longer (1.5-2.5 cm vs. c. 1 cm) cone-shaped fruits, often borne in pairs.
For more images of C. frutescens, click on the Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants link below.
Synonyms:
C. baccatum, misapplied.
FLORIDA KEYS Occurrence:
A Doubtfull Record
Map of select IRC data for the Florida Keys
Florida Keys History and Distribution: Reported in
1913 by John Kunkel Small for hammocks from the upper Keys to the lower Keys. However, the description in the text does not conform to C. frutescens and overlaps with the characters of
C. annuum var. glabriusculum.
