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Purple and Blue Wildflower Gallery

Nightshade

Solanaceae - Nightshade family (Potato family)

Horse Nettle Solanum carolinense var. carolinense

Flower about 1" wide.; Color can be purple, white, or a mix; I have only seen the purple ones. Yellow, banana-shaped anthers spread apart. Yellow berries grow in clusters. Large leaves have pointed lobes which are slightly wavy. Plants stems and leaves are covered in stickers and sticky hairs.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, April - June 2004, June 2005

(Native of Texas)

see similar    Buffalo-bur

Similar Species

Horse Nettle Solanum carolinense var. albiflorum

White flowered variation. Plants are often misidentified as Bull Nettle, Cnidoscolus texanus.

Western Horse-nettle Solanum dimidiatum

Small lavender flower. Large green leaves are entire or deeply notched. Oblong red fruit dry with large pits in surface, poisonous. Plants stems and leaves are covered in stickers and sticky hairs.

(Native of Texas, Taylor)

 Deadly Nightshade Solanum interius

Purple flower. Bush. Prolific yellow fruit, poisonous.

(Native of Texas, Taylor and Panhandle)

West Indian Nightshade (Blueflower Buffalo-bur, American Nightshade) Solanum ptychanthum (Solanum americanum, Solanum nigrum)

Very small white to lavender flowers. Dark green leaves are entire. Clusters of fruit up stem, green turning black.

(Native of Texas, near but not in Taylor Co.)

Solanaceae - Nightshade family (Potato family)

Silver-Leaf Nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium

Purple flower about 1" wide. Yellow, banana-shaped anthers spread apart. Berries grow in clusters and ripen to yellow or black, poisonous. Narrow leaves are often folded. Stems and leaves are grayish with small hairs, no stickers. Plants grow 2-3 feet tall.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, June 2004

(Native of Texas)

Solanaceae - Nightshade family (Potato family)

Purple Ground-cherry Quincula lobata

Flower about 3/4" wide. Seedpod is a large flat-sided globe. Plant goes dormant in dry weather to bloom with each rain.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, April - July 2004, May 2005

(Native of Texas)

see similar    Woolly False Nightshade,   Ground-Cherry

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