365 Urban Species. #238: Black Nightshade
Photos by cottonmanifesto. Location: the sidewalk in front of our house.
Urban species #238: Black nightshade Solanum nigrum
In a place in our parking area where my neighbor, a month ago, cleared away all the weeds, a new collection of plants has sprouted. Quickly it became evident that most of them are black nightshade plants. At the same time, black nightshade is appearing all along the sidewalk edges in our neighborhood. Other members of the genus Solanum, including bittersweet nightshade (S. dulcamara) and horse nettle (S. carolinense) began blooming in the city weeks ago, and have already gone to seed. Black nightshade shares the distinctive flower shape of its relatives--five petals curving back from a central "beak"--but its flowers are very small in comparison. The plant is thought to be native to South America, but has become naturalized in parts of North America, the Mediterranean, and New Zealand. Like many others in its genus, its foliage and mature fruit (small black berries) are toxic to mammals, and may be dangerous temptations to children and livestock.
