Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 299 



NIGHTSHADE FAMILY (Solanaceae). 



A small family of herbs, some of them very valu- 

 able, having colorless juices, alternating leaves and 

 regular five-parted flowers, usually with five stamens 

 and a short pistil. 



BITTERSWEET; NIGHTSHADE (Solanum Dulca- 

 mara) (EUROPEAN), although an immigrant, is 

 quite common in the eastern half of our country. It 

 chooses for its habitat, moist thickets or the edges 

 of ponds where there are plenty of shrubs to help sup- 

 port it, for this species has weak stems with climbing 

 tendencies. 



It is a species that often attracts the attention of 

 the casual passerby because of the beauty and quaint 

 forms of its flowers and leaves. It grows from 2 to 8 

 feet tall and throws out numerous, long branches that 

 climb and sprawl over the surrounding vegetation. 

 The dark green leaves are variable in form; some are 

 lobed, others have small lateral leaflets and still 

 others have another pair of still smaller leaflets on 

 the leaf stem. The flowers hang in loose clusters on 

 long peduncles from the axils of the leaves; they 

 have five, reflexed, purple petals and a yellow, coni- 

 cal center formed by the stamens. The berries that 

 succeed the flowers are first green, then turn yellow 

 and ultimately a deep ruby-red. This species blooms 

 from June until September and, like most plants with 

 a long period of bloom, we may often find flowers 

 and berries in all stages of color at the same time. 



BLACK NIGHTSHADE (Solanum nigrum) is a na- 

 tive species with a smooth, erect, branching stem 1 

 to 2 feet high. The long-stemmed ovate leaves have 

 a wavy-lobed edge. The five-parted white flowers 

 grow in few-flowered clusters from the leaf axils, 

 the round berries are black when fully ripe, and are 

 quite poisonous. This species is found throughout 

 our range, frequenting waste ground. 



