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| Solanum xanti |
| Family: Solanaceae (Nightshade) |
| Flowers — color: purple, size: 3/4", type: 5 petals |
The Purple Nightshade flower has five fused petals, up to 3/4" diameter. The petals are purple with two green spots at their base. Despite those spots, Greenspot Nightshade is a separate species also found in BMER. The center has five yellow stamens and a protruding white pistil.
The flower stem grows from terminal leaf nodes and holds several flowers. The flowers always droop and never face the sky, making them harder to photograph. They say that vibrations from native honeybee wings cause the stamens to open and release pollen.
Habit:
Purple Nightshade is a perennial shrub. It grows three to five feet tall, especially if supported by neighboring vegetation. New stems are light green and covered in fine hair and grow woody with age. The oblong green leaves grow singly and are also covered in fine hair. Drought deciduous, new leaves grow on woodier branches in the next rainy season.
These nightshades rarely appear singly. If you spot one, look several feet away and you will spy many of its cousins. They most often occur in small colonies with several dozen members in the area of a living room.
All parts of this nightshade are quite poisonous to humans and mammals. The family contains several familiar vegetables that were once thoght to be dangerous: Tomato, potato, and eggplant. Bluewitch nightshade (S. umbelliferum) has identical flowers and similar form. Bluewitch may have grayer leaves covered in more fuzz, and its fruits mature to purple, while Purple Nightshade fruits remain green. The American Nightshade has white blooms and black fruits. Greenspot Nightshade has paler narrower petals and shinier leaves that may have coarse teeth.
Grows in full or part shade in oak woodland.