| Author | Heiser | |
| Distribution | Restricted to the coast, ranging north to the Buxton area of Dare County. An inland record from Wayne County is probably not a natural site.
This is mainly a Southern coast species, from southeastern NC to all of FL, and west to LA. | |
| Abundance | Rare to locally uncommon along the southern half of the coast; probably not natural more than a few miles from coastal areas. The S1 State Rank assigned by NCNHP seems too conservative, and S1S2 is probably more accurate. This is a Significantly Rare species. | |
| Habitat | This is a species mainly of coastal sands, typically in dunes, but also around the margins of maritime forests and maritime shrub stands. It seldom shows the weedy tendencies of the other two native species in the genus. |
| Phenology | Blooms from May to October, and fruits well after flowering. | |
| Identification | This is an unarmed (no spines) erect species, growing to about 2 feet tall, with many branches. It has quite pubescent stems and leaves. It has lanceolate to elliptic, alternate leaves, about 1.5-2 inches long and half as wide, with few if any lobes or teeth, but strongly hairy and tomentose beneath. The flowers are about like those of S. ptycanthum -- mostly in axils, white, 5 pointed petals, and a spread about 1/3-1/2-inch across. The berry is small and shiny black. The overall hairy stem and leaves should quickly separate this species from the others, as well as it growing on dunes and in natural sites in coastal habitats. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | Older references, and perhaps many current ones, name this as S. gracile, which Weakley (2018) says is a "misapplied" name.
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| Other Common Name(s) | Dune Nightshade | |
| State Rank | S1 [S1S2] | |
| Global Rank | G4 | |
| State Status | SR-T | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FACU link |
| USACE-emp | | |
