Solanum aphyodendron

Solanum aphyodendron is a Neotropical species of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), described in the late twentieth century from material collected in the moist montane forests of Central and northern South America. It is a small tree or large shrub of forest understorey and forest edges, typically 3–8 m tall, with greyish bark and densely stellate-pubescent young shoots. The simple alternate leaves are elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, with entire or shallowly sinuate margins and stellate hairs on both surfaces. White, star-shaped, five-lobed flowers with prominent yellow anthers are borne in lateral cymose inflorescences, followed by small globose berries that ripen from green to yellow or orange. The species belongs to the predominantly tropical American Solanum section Brevantherum, members of which are characteristic pioneers of disturbed forest in Andean and Atlantic-forest landscapes.