Purple nightshade

Taxobox
name = "Solanum xanti"

---

regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
subclassis = Asteridae
ordo = Solanales
familia = Solanaceae
genus = "Solanum"
species = "S. xanti"
binomial = "Solanum xanti"
binomial_authority = A. Gray

Purple Nightshade ("Solanum xanti") or San Diego Nightshade is a semi-evergreen perennial vine, originally native to California, it can now be found in most of North America. It grows in shrublands, oak/pine woodlands, as well as deciduous and coniferous forests, to convert|4000|ft|m elevation, in sandy, rocky or clay soils. It is found in areas that receive 10-20" of rainfall annually and prefers partial sun. It ranges from two to four feet in height, and two to four feet in width. [ [http://www.theodorepayne.org/gallery/pages/S/solanum_xanti.htm California Native Plants Gallery: Solanum xanti ] ] Purple Nightshade has been observed 'climbing' higher on fences, shrubs and saplings, sometimes 'choking' or blocking sunlight thereby killing off the host plant.

Purple Nightshade flowers are a blue purple and approximately an inch wide, and foliage is dark green. [ [http://www.laspilitas.com/plants/646.htm Solanum xanti Purple Nightshade ] ] It blooms in spring to early summer. The plant is poisonous to humans. Due to Purple Nightshade's poisonous nature, tomatoes (also a member of the Nightshade family) were thought to be as equally toxic by many North Americans as late as the early eighteenth century.

References