We believe this plant could become a noxious weed in southern Texas and encourage identification, documentation, and destruction of any new colonies subsequently discovered. Site Visit A visit to the collection site revealed that this plant has overrun several residential yards in Houston, forming a dense, attractive ground cover in shaded areas. This plant is highly competitive in St. Augustine lawns under Houston environmental conditions. This plant prefers areas with a lot of shade, an organic rich soil and plenty of water. We visited over 50 sites where the plant was growing and of these only one was in a sunny location.
Seeds are slow to germinate.
The cotyledons looked like many other seedlings in the Solanaceae Family. It is apparently reproducing both vegetatively and sexually since numerous flowers and immature fruit were seen in early December. We suspected that seeds and plant parts are being carried from yard to yard on the equipment of landscape maintenance companies and through drainage ditches along the edge on the road. This species has not previously been reported as being in Texas but has been found in City Park, New Orleans, Louisiana. No fruit were observed in the Louisiana population.