BLACK NIGHTSHADE (Soldnum nigrum, L.). Flowers white, 

 little more than | inch across, wheel-shaped, the anthers 

 connivent like a yellow cone about the styles; borne in umbel- 

 like, lateral clusters. Leaves dull green, ovate with a wedge- 

 shaped base, 1 to 3 inches long. Fruit a pea-like berry becom- 

 ing black when ripe. A much branched, spreading annual, 



2 or 3 feet high, frequent everywhere, blooming at all seasons 

 & plant of cosmopolitan distribution. 



On the Pacific Coast, the Black Nightshade is a common 

 wayside plant of rather unsavory reputation, its berries and 

 leaves being generally considered poisonous if eaten. The 

 green fruit probably is so, but the fully ripe berries have been 

 an article of diet with the Indians who appear to survive after- 

 ward. A nearly related species, apparently indigenous to 

 California and Arizona, is Solarium Douglasii, Dunal, with 

 rather larger white or violet flowers and often woody stems 



3 to 5 or even 10 feet high. The juice of the berries was used 

 by the San Diego Indians for inflamed eyes and for tattooing. 



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