''Solanum bahamense'', commonly known as the Bahama nightshade, is a

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

in the

nightshade family The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and orna ...

. It is native across the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

, from the Florida Keys east to Dominica (excluding Hispaniola). It is a common species in coastal habitats, often on calcareous soils.

Taxonomy

Originally described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

, it has a convoluted taxonomic history. ''S. bahamense'' is known by many junior synonyms and involved in several cases of

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are homographs (words that share the same spelling, regardless of pronunciation), or homophones ( equivocal words, that share the same pronunciation, regardless of spelling), or both. Using this definiti ...

y. Some additional

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

of ''S. bahamense'' have been described, but they are not considered

taxonomical In biology, taxonomy () is the scientific study of naming, defining ( circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon) and these groups are given ...

ly distinct today: * ''Solanum bahamense var. inerme'' Dunal * ''Solanum bahamense var. lanceolatum'' Griseb. (Not to be confused with '' S. lanceolatum''.) * ''Solanum bahamense var. luxurians'' D'Arcy * ''Solanum bahamense var. rugelii'' D'Arcy * ''Solanum bahamense var. subarmatum'' (Willd.) O.E.Schulz

References

bahamense Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Solanales-stub