Solanaceae

Solanum nigrum

Black Nightshade

Shrub-like branching annual with spreading hairs and some glands on surfaces. Leaves egg-shaped, entire or wavy with few large uneven teeth. Flowers in small clusters. Calyx short, bell-shaped, lobed. Flower a white to pale blue short tube with 5 deeply cut flat lobes, each about 1/3 in. across. Fruit a small, black, round, tomato-like berry. Grows in disturbed places in very low elevations. Similar S. americanum has hairs pressed to surface or is hairless, without glands; fruit greenish or black. Solanum physalifolium is uncommon, native, growing in disturbed places at low elevations, more common in eastern Washington, a calyx enclosing the green to yellowish fruit.

• Rarity: Locally Common
• Flowering Time: Late Summer
• Life Cycle: Annual, Perennial
• Height: 6--16 inches
• Habitat: Coastal, Disturbed
• Found In: West Gorge, East Gorge, N Cascades Np
• Native: No