Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

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Solanum nigrum

Common name

Black-berry nightshade

Family

Solanaceae

Where found

Grassy areas, roadsides, and disturbed sites. Widespread.

Notes

Introduced short lived shrub or annual or perennial herb to 1.25 m tall.  Stems sparsely hairy to hairless, and rough.  Leaves alternating up the stems, 2-13 cm long, 10-80 mm wide, more or less hairy and sticky.  Juvenile leaves with entire margins, later leaves lobed and toothed, sometimes with wavy margins, tips blunt or pointed. Flowers 7-12 mm in diameter, white, often tinged purple, tubular, with five lobes, in clusters of 4-12 flowers. Sepals point outwards. Fruit purplish black to black, relatively dull.

Intermediates between Solanum nigrum and Solanum nodiflorum are sometimes seen.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Solanum~nigrum  (accessed 6 February, 2021)