Eastern black nightshade seedling
Eastern black nightshade |
Eastern black nightshade seedling
| Scientific Name | Solanum ptycanthum Dun. |
| Other Names | Garden nightshade, deadly nightshade, and poison berry. |
| Life Cycle | summer annual |
| General Description | Erect, branched plant with irregularly toothed leaves. |
| Seedlings | Hypocotyls are hairy, green, but often maroon. Cotyledons are ovate, smooth, green on upper surface and maroon on the lower surface. |
| True Leaves and Stem | Leaves are alternate, wavy, and triangular to oval in shape. Margins are entire or irregularly toothed. Leaves are usually riddled with holes from flea beetles feeding and have a purple tint to the underside of the leaf. Stems and leaves are covered in soft short hairs. |
| Roots | Taproot. |
| Flower and Fruit | Flowers consist of five fused petals arranged in a star shaped umbrella. Clusters of 5-7 flowers that are white or purple-tinged/striped are common. Fruits are small, glossy, black berries (10mm diameter). Approximately 50-100 seeds may be found in each berry. |
| Other Information | All vegetative parts of the plant are poisonous. |