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Horsenettle's upper stems end in small clusters of 3/4" wide white or light violet flowers with wavy petal margins and hairy pedicels; clusters may also arise from leaf axils. Each flower has a green, hairy calyx with five lobes that taper gradually to sharp tips (typically slightly reflexed); five triangular petals that are fused at their bases; and five yellow, banana-shaped anthers 6-9 mm long surrounding a long, slim, light green style with a darker green, globular terminal stigma. After fertilization, the ovary expands into mature berries about 1/2" in diameter, initially green-striped, that look like yellow cherry tomatoes when mature; they are half enclosed in a papery derivative of the calyx.

Solanum

Solanum carolinense

horsenettle [Blooms: Jun-Aug]

Bittersweet nightshade flowers occur in small (6-12 flowers) clusters arising from the stems and leaf axils. Each flower is about 3/8" across consisting of a small green, purple, or brown calyx with five shallow, triangular lobes; five petals, purple with paired yellow or green spots at their bases, that flare or are reflected backwards over the base of the flower; five bright yellow anthers 4.5-6 mm long that are appressed to form a tight cylinder; and a single green, slender style closely surrounded by the anthers and protruding beyond them. The fruit is a 3/8-1/2" long, oval, tomato-like berry, initially green; mature berries are bright red. The foliage and fruit contain the alkaloid solanum and are toxic; fatalities are rare but have occurred. Horse nettle (S. carolinense) is similar to bittersweet nightshade but has numerous sharp bristles and spines on the stems and leaves that are lacking in bittersweet nightshade. Black nightshade (S. ptycanthum) is also similar but has black (rather than red) mature fruits and white (not purple) petals on the flowers.

Solanum

Solanum dulcamara

bittersweet nightshade [Blooms: May-Aug]

Black nightshade produces solitary umbels 3/4" long usually, from the axils of middle and upper leaves; the flower pedicels are about 3/8" long. Flowers are 1/4-3/8" across consisting of five sepals partially fused at the base of the flower; five white petals, green at their base, sometimes with purple highlights on the outside of the petal, and usually curved backwards; five anthers and their thick filaments appressed to form a tight, bright yellow cylinder with a yellowish-green stem; and a slender style running up the center of the appressed anthers to just emerge from the tip as a green stigma. The fruit is a 1/4-3/8" tomato-like berry, initially green; mature berries are black. The foliage and unripe fruit contain the alkaloid solanum and are toxic.

Solanum

Solanum ptychanthum

black nightshade [Blooms: Jul-Sep]