Black nightshade
Scientific name: Solanum nigrum L.
Family: Solanaceae
MORPHOLOGY
Habit and dimensions: Annual or perennial in warm climates, herbaceous, with a taproot, height between 10 and 80 cm.
Stem: Erect-ascending stems, cylindrical, with 2 longitudinal stripes, glabrous or sparsely hairy, angular and branched.
Leaves: Leaves with a partially winged petiole and asymmetric blade, alternate, oval, with a sinuate-dentate edge.
Flowers: Short racemose inflorescences (3)5-10 pedicellate flowers inserted at the leaf axils. The inflorescences have an erect-patent peduncle. The small bracteolate flowers have a sparsely pubescent, conical calyx, gamosepalous, divided into 5 ovate segments with obtuse tips; white rotate corolla.
Fruits and seeds: The fruits, which appear in clusters, are globose berries divided into multiple chambers, green at first, then usually black and shiny when ripe, sometimes yellowish but never red-orange; they contain tiny seeds, 1.8-2 x 1.4-1.8 mm, ellipsoid, light brown.
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
Found throughout Italy in ruderal and anthropized environments, cultivated fields, and roadsides, it is a weed in beet and maize crops; 0-1,000 m.
USE
It has antispasmodic, analgesic, narcotic-sedative, emollient, antipyretic, diuretic, and purgative properties. In the past, folk medicine recommended the use of crushed leaves as a remedy for burns and boils. This plant is dangerous due to its toxicity, which is not always consistent, and the toxic principle is associated with all green parts. Before taking any plant-based product (medicinal or non-medicinal) for therapeutic or similar purposes, it is always advisable to consult your doctor beforehand.
INTERESTING FACTS
In the past, in Bohemia, the leaves were placed in children’s cradles to promote sleep. In the Mauritius islands, the leaves were consumed like spinach; it seems that English soldiers stationed in Kaffraria, South Africa, also used it as food. As early as the 13th century, the juice extracted from the plant was used as an anesthetic during surgical procedures and as a sedative for toothaches. The berries were crushed on animal wounds to keep flies away.
Photo: under free license from Saxifraga and Rutger Barendse, Ed Stikvoort.
