NameThatPlant.net: Solanum americanum

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Solanales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Solanum americanum FAMILY Solanaceae Go to FSUS key

Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.

Read more about American Black Nightshade at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Solanum americanum FAMILY Solanaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH A revision of the Morelloid Clade of Solanum L. (Solanaceae) in North and Central America and the Caribbean (Knapp et al., 2019)

Solanum americanum

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)

Solanum americanum

SYNONYMOUS WITH Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida (Wunderlin & Hansen, 2011)

Solanum americanum

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 165-05-009:

Solanum americanum FAMILY Solanaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Solanum nigrum

COMMON NAME:
American Black Nightshade

To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Solanum americanum, American Black Nightshade

USDA / Selected Weeds of the US. 1970 swus_page_325

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Solanum americanum FAMILY Solanaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Solanum americanum FAMILY Solanaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH A revision of the Morelloid Clade of Solanum L. (Solanaceae) in North and Central America and the Caribbean (Knapp et al., 2019)
Solanum americanum

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)
Solanum americanum

SYNONYMOUS WITH Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida (Wunderlin & Hansen, 2011)
Solanum americanum

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 165-05-009:
Solanum americanum FAMILY Solanaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Solanum nigrum

1407

Forb
Annual

Habitat: hammocks, marsh edges, shell middens, disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora

Native to Georgia & South Carolina (introduced in NC)

Uncommon in GA, rare in Carolinas

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)

IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Stems and leaves unarmed

LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate
Leaves have petioles.

FLOWER:
Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall
White
Radially symmetrical
5-merous
5-lobed calyx
5-parted rotate corolla
Superior ovary
Bisexual

FRUIT:
Winter/Spring/Summer/Fall
Black
Berry

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!

"Common names should be written in lower case unless part of the name is proper and then the first letter of only the proper term is capitalized. For example, sugar maple would be written with lower case letters while Japanese maple would be written with the capital J. This is the accepted method for writing common names in scientific circles and should be familiar to the student. In this text, and many others, common names are written with capital first letters. This was done to set the name off from the rest of the sentence and make it more evident to the reader. Actually in modern horticultural writings the capitalized common name predominates." — Michael Dirr, Manual of Woody Landscape Plants

If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".

Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".