Rawhide nightshade / Solanum "unknown"

This plant was noticed in Bend. OR in the summer of 2004. There were thousands of them scattered around town, mostly in locations where the soil had been disturbed for development, and then left alone for a few months. Other locations where it was commonly found were llama pastures. Neighboring communities have been surveyed for the plant, and it has not been seen elsewhere.

Since experts have examined the plant and do not have a scientific name for it, I have for the time being called it the "Rawhide Nightshade", for 2 reasons. The first place I noticed it was on Rawhide Drive, and I feel "rawhide" fits the rugged looking nature of the plant.

The plant is prostrate, and may grow up to a meter in diameter or more. The leaves are shallowly lobed, and the lobes are acutely tipped. The stems and veins have antorsely curved hairs which may be from a couple millimeters up to the diameter of the stem or vein in length.
The flowers and fruits commonly occur in 2's or 3's on a stem about 1-1.5 cm long from the main stem. The corolla is white and usually reflexed, the center of the flower is yellow. The sepals are shorter than the corolla lobes and reflexed in fruit. The fruit is green, about 1 cm in diameter, and faintly striped. The seeds are yellow, and quite sticky. The plant has a unique, sweet odor. Exposure to frost tends to darken the fruit, and the calyx turns tan.

Comparing the plant to Solanum triflorum, which is also very common in Bend, shows these differences. The plant is a dark green, rather than a gray-green. The leaves have more surface, being shallowly lobed, rather than deeply lobed. Some of the hairs are larger, longer, and curved. Flowers and fruits are more often in 3's for the Rawhide nightshade, more often in 2's for S. triflorum. The fruit of the Rawhide nightshade is just slightly larger, but the seed is slightly smaller. Each fruit has more seeds. The plant grows more rapidly, may become larger, and comes into fruit sooner. S. triflorum has a typical nightshade odor - not at all like the Rawhide nightshade.