Solanum ptychanthum

Native

Rocky and dry open woods, thickets, openings, lake shores. Disturbed and cultivated areas.

June to October

White

6″ to 24″

This is a 6″ to 24″ tall, erect, annual forb that rises from a slender taproot.

The stems are erect and branching and are covered with short, incurved hairs, especially near the top.

The leaves are alternate, egg-shaped to triangular, and ¾″ to 3″ long, ⅜″ to 2″ wide, on long, slender leaf stalks. The margins have 2 to 5 irregular, blunt teeth on the lower half, no teeth on the upper half. There are scattered, short, incurved hairs on the upper and lower surfaces, especially on the lower surface. The underside is green when young, turning purplish or purple with age.

The inflorescence is an umbrella-shaped cluster of 3 to 10 flowers on an ascending stalk (peduncle) up to 1⅛″ long arising from the upper portion of the stem, not from leaf axils, and not at the end of the stem.

The individual flowers are on nodding, closely-clustered stalks that originate at more or less the same point at the end of the peduncle. The peduncle and the individual flower stalks are covered with short, incurved hairs. The flowers are from less than ¼″ to ⅓″ wide. There are 5 white petals that are widely spreading, eventually curving backward, and form no tube at the base. There are 5 stamens with large yellow anthers projecting from the center of the petals. The anthers converge around the style but are not actually fused together.

The fruit is a berry, green and mottled when young, black or purplish black when ripe. At the base of the fruit the sepals (calyx) has 5 bluntly triangular lobes that are spreading and do not cup the berry.

Common lamb’s-quarters (Chenopodium album) leaves are whitish on the underside, not purplish.

This is a highly variable species. The names Solanum nigurm var. virginicum and Solanum americanum are often listed as synonyms. However, a distinction is sometimes made between the varieties. The proper classification of the many varieties of this plant is still a matter of debate. If they are found to be varieties of the same species, the name Solanum ptychanthum, the oldest name to be used, may be the name chosen. For that reason, MinnesotaSeasons.com will follow the example of the Wisconsin State Herbarium and use that name, treating the other names as synonyms.

The leaves and immature berries are poisonous. Ripe berries are not, but should not be eaten.