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Solanum americanum Mill.
American Black Nightshade
Synonym(s): Solanum ptychanthum
Florida native
A common plant of disturbed site throughout nearly all of Florida. Ranges across much of the southern United States and up the west coast. Introduced in British Columbia and Manitoba.
An unarmed nightshade growing up to 1.5m (59 in.) tall, but often half that. Leaves are alternate on long petioles up to 4cm (1.6 in.) in length. The blades are 5-10cm (2 to 4 in.) long, ovate to deltoid in shape with entire or irregular wavy margins. The inflorescence has two to five flowers in an umbel on a short peduncle. The flowers are white, sometimes pale violet, and only up to 1cm (0.4 in.) wide with yellow anthers in a united cone-like structure in the center. The fruit is a berry 5-10mm (0.2 to 0.4 in.) in diameter, turning black when mature. Note that the unripe fruit is poisonous.
Solanum americanum is a member of the Solanaceae - Potato family.
Other species of the Solanum genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Solanum bahamense - BAHAMA NIGHTSHADE
Solanum capsicoides - SODA APPLE
Solanum carolinense var. carolinense - CAROLINA HORSENETTLE
Solanum chenopodioides - BLACK NIGHTSHADE
Solanum dulcamara - CLIMBING NIGHTSHADE
Solanum sisymbriifolium - STICKY NIGHTSHADE
Solanum viarum - TROPICAL SODA APPLE
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
iNaturalist profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Dec 08, 2023
