Scirpidiella's Plants: Rare “Black Nightshades” (Solanum sect. Solanum)

Solanum subg. Solanum sect. Solanum formerly named “sect. Maurella”, or "sect. Morella", consists of about 75 species. The most of them occurs in tropical Andes and in Africa, but some ones are origin also to Australasia or Europe (as the most know species - Black Nightshade - Solanum nigrum). They all (or almost all) are non-spiny, herbaceous or suffrutescent, small or medium size herbs with colorful (black, orange, red, yellow, green, whitish, purple etc.) small berries. Some species creates edible fruits and other are poisonous and even within one the same species (as for example S. nigrum) can exists edible and poisonous forms (difficult to distinguish without chemical researches). But some taxons (species, forms etc.) are typically edible and safe to use. They can be grown as common tomatoes.

Red-berry Nightshade (Solanum alatum) ex Kenya

Bellow I am describing my experiences with growing 14 species:

Low Nighstade (Solanum nigrum f. humile) it is actually considered as only a form of Black Nightshade, but formerly (only a few decades before) it was described as separate species – Solanum humile. This taxon is very different than common Solanum nigrum (this first is low herb with very long horizontally branches, a little winged stems and waxy yellow-green berries). The fruits were eaten in the past as famine food, but be careful - they can be poisonous in larger doses (!). I did not grow it but I met it in wild state in my town. This is very rare taxon in Poland, which grows only in the warmest areas. It is not widely known one and not all botanists, even Polish, know it. It was very difficult to identify it for me, due to lacking info about it in modern books and webpages (I had to use old keys).

This form is very different than common black nightshade

Garden Huckleberry (Solanum scabrum, syns.: S. melanocerasum, S. nigrum var. guineense) this is annual herb to about 1-1,5m (3-5ft) tall which creates larger fruits (about 1,5cm = 0,6inch) diameter which are edible, as well as cooked leaves (but be careful!). The black berries are often cooked with addition some baking soda first in order to remove any bitterness. The anthers are usually brown in case of this species but there exists also rare yellow-anther forms. Fruits are fully ripe when become dull black (earlier they are shiny). Unripe fruits are poisonous.

A form typical - with brown anthers (sometimes cultivated in American and European gardens for fruits):

Its fruits are larger than in related species

The coin is size about 1 inch (2,5cm)

The largest fruit

A rare form with yellow anthers (ex Australia):

The leaves are very wide

Unique in this species yellow anthers

Hairy Nightshade, Orange-berry Nightshade, Yellow-berry Nightshade (Solanum villosum, syn. S. luteum) this is villous small herb with usually orange (or rarely yellow) berries which are said to be edible. The leaves have been also eaten, for example in Greece.

It has very hairy shoots and leaves

The fruits are said to be edible

Red-berry Nightshade (Solanum alatum, syn. S. luteum subsp. alatum) – it’s close relative to previous one plant – similar but with appressed hairs (not villous) and usually red (or orange-red) berries (they can sometimes be also clean-yellow colored). This species is grown commonly in Africa for edible leaves and fruits, but be careful, because some forms can be poisonous. The fruits are tasty and have strong skin.

A form from Kenya (red-fruited):

This form was almost glabrous

It can grow to about 5 ft (1,5m) tall or so

Solanum aff. alatum - a Polish (ex Cracow) wild form (yellow-fruited):

It was more hairy than Kenyan form

Sunberry, Wonderberry (Solanum retroflexum, syn. S. x burbankii) it’s herb native to Southern Africa. Its berries are edible when ripe. It is often grown in gardens are unusual fruit. The leaves are eaten as potherb in Africa. There was suggested that it is hybrid origin, but it turned out not truth.

The fruits are edible and tasty

Green-berry Nightshade, Morelle verte (Solanum opacum) it is other edible species which is native to Australia and sometimes grown for delicious, sweet, soft, green fruits. I grew probably misidentified taxon - bought as S. opacum. True species has green fruits (not yellow) which fall down when ripe together with pedicels. I need to grow it again and try to identify it correctly.

Solanum aff. opacum (ex Australia)

It had very sweet berries

Argentinian Nightshade (Solanum physalifolium var. nitidibaccatum, syn. S. nitidibaccatum) this is small, hairy, annual herb native to temperate areas of South America. Its fruits also were eaten in the past (but be careful!). They have aroma something similar to tomatoes (but are something insipid). They have translucent skin and are bicolored. There exists 2 form of this taxon: one with entire leaves and other with dentate ones.

I grew a form with dentate leaves

The fruits are bicolored

Small-flowered Nightshade, Glossy Nightshade (Solanum americanum) this is herb native to the tropics and subtropics of the Americas, Melanesia, New Guinea, and Australia. It has very small flowers and small, glossy, black fruits. Some forms are edible but other can be poisonous. An example of edible and safe variety is probably “Chichiquelite Huckleberry” (it is probably this species).

“Chichiquelite Huckleberry”:

The stem is dentate winged

Its small berries are very sweet and delicious

Its subspecies (Solanum nodiflorum subsp. nodiflorum = Solanum americanum subsp. nodiflorum) is very similar but has umbelliform inflorescences and smaller fruits. I grew its edible variety cultivated on Philippines for giant, delicious leaves (cooked as spinach) and fruits eaten as a snack.

This cultivated form creates very very large leaves (edible cooked)

The fruits are very small

... but whole plant giant (over 7ft = 2m tall)

West Indian Nightshade, Eastern Black Nightshade (Solanum ptychanthum) it is species very similar to previous one. It has purple colored leaf-margins and small black fruits which fall down when fully ripe together with pedicels. It is probably inedible or even poisonous.

It is not visible on these photos but down surfaces of leaves were purple tinged

Mature fruits fall down and become blackish

Whitetip Nightshade, Velvety Nightshade (Solanum chenopodioides) it’s herb native to South America (but naturalized in Australia). It creates dull black berries which do not fall down when ripe. They are very, very sweet but it is not certain if they are edible or not (be careful!). But leaves are said to be edible (cooked). The leaves are entire and velvet hairy and peduncles characteristic curved back.

The fruits of this species are dull-black ish and characteristically recurved peduncles

The ripe fruits not fall down when ripe

Hairy-style Nightshade (Solanum polytrichostylum, syn. Solanum aloysiifolium var. polytrichostylum) it’s a perennial subshrub native to Andes. It can be grown as annual. It creates purplish-brown berries which fall down when ripe (together with pedicels). Inside the fruits there are seeds and numerous stone cells. It is unknown if fruits are edible or not. They have acid-sweet taste. The style (in flowers) resembles haircap moss (Polytrichum) shoots in appearance (look at a photo bellow) what gave the species name “polytrichostylum”.

It creates 2-branched inflorescences and quite large flowers 0,8 inch (=2cm) diameter

The leaves are quite large

... stems winged,

... and styles resemble haircap moss (Polytrichum) in appearance

Fruits are purple-brown

Inside fruits are seeds and stone-cell granules

Greenspot Nightshade (Solanum nigrescens, syn. S. douglasii) it is wide perennial shrubby herb (sub-shrub) native to South and Central America and southwestern USA (and has been naturalized in Australia). It can has black or green fruits in 1-few flowered inflorescences. I grew an accession from Chile with very small green fruits (with something translucent skin) which fall down (with pedicel attached) when ripe. The seeds are lovely cinnamon-brown colored and there are also present numerous stone-cell granules in fruits. The fruits were acidic in taste, but it is unknown if they are edible. They were used in medicine by Indians.

The leaves are rather small

Fruits were very small. They fall down when ripe

Seeds are cinnamon-brown tinged. There are present numerous stone-cell granules

Hierba Mora (Solanum macrotonum) this is small scandent herb (0,5-1,5m tall), native to tropical South America and Central America. It is something similar to S. nigrescens, but its fruits are a little larger, dull green (or sometimes black) with thick skin – not translucent and they are edible (and very sweet). They fall down when ripe, together with pedicels. The fruits do not look attractively but they are tasty. I grew an accession from Colombia.