Black nightshade

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Black nightshade

Black nightshade habit

Morphology

Stem

Ascending, much-branched, glabrous, glabrescent or, if puberulent medially or distally then with hairs not uniformly distributed, often in lines or irregular patches.

Leaves

Cauline, alternate, simple; petiole .4 to 4 inches; blade ovate, ovate-lanceolate, lanceolate, or elliptic, .8 to 6 inches long, .4 to 3.6 inches wide, margins entire to undulate or sinuate-dentate.

Inflorescence

Umbels, axillary, 2-8-flowered.

Flower

Calyx .04 to .06 inch, 5-lobed, lobes lanceolate to oblong; corolla white, rarely bluish, .3 to .6 inch wide, 5-lobed, lobes ovate to lanceolate, spreading to reflexed, .05 to .07 inch; stamens 5, of one form, erect, fused to corolla tube, connivent around style; anthers yellow, .06 to .08 inch; pistil 1; style 1.

Fruit

Berries purplish black, .2 to .35 inch diameter, proximal 1/3 covered by prickle-less calyx. Seeds yellow to brown, nearly round, .06 to .07 inch, minutely pitted or reticulate.

Ecology

Habitat

Roadsides, pastures, stream banks, prairie ravines, moist woodlands, waste areas.

Distribution

Throughout Kansas

Practical Information

Toxicity

Many species of Solanum are poisonous, either when fresh or when dried. They produce a variety of glycoalkaloids, the concentrations of which can vary with plant part, plant age, and environment. Symptoms of nightshade poisoning include mild to severe gastrointestinal irritation, stupefaction, and loss of sensations in humans, and drowsiness, salivation, dyspnea, trembling, progressive weakness or paralysis, prostration, and unconsciousness in animals (Kingsbury 1964). Poisoning may or may not be fatal.

Additional Notes