Solanum laxum
Spreng. Jasmine NightshadePerennial climber, green, glabrous except for simple hairs in leaf-axils and on larger leaf veins; prickles absent. Leaves ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 3–5 cm long, 1–2.5 cm wide, concolorous, apex acute or acuminate, base cuneate to truncate, margins more or less entire; petiole 1–2 cm long, often twining, sometimes with 2 small leaflets in axil; juvenile leaves larger and deeply lobed. Inflorescences branched, c. 20-flowered; primary peduncle to 3.5 cm long. Flowers on pedicels 10–15 mm long; calyx 2–3 mm long, lobes acuminate, 1–1.5 mm long; corolla rotate, c. 20 mm diam., white or pale blue; anthers 2–4 mm long. Berry globose to ovoid, 7–9 mm diam., dark blue to black; seeds 2–3 mm long, grey with a pale margin. Flowers mainly summer and autumn.
MuM, VVP, GipP, HSF. Also naturalised NSW. Native to South America. Widely cultivated in gardens as a climber on fences, trellises etc. Currently known in Victoria from a sites along the Thompson River near Sale and the Yarra River in the suburbs of Bulleen and Templestowe, where apparently naturalised and spreading in bushland.
Jeanes, J.A. (1999). Solanaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 4, Cornaceae to Asteraceae, pp. 332–365. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
