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Upcoming Events | Meet the Instructors | Plant Archive | Mushroom Archive
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Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum complex) is an edible member of the nightshade family. It is an annual or occasionally a perennial that grows throughout the United States. It can be found in gardens, fields, and disturbed areas.
Black nightshade leaves are alternate and can be smooth or slightly toothed. In the summer, the plant produces flowers with five white petals and yellow centers. The plant produces small clusters of green berries which ripen to dark purple or black.
Young stem tips and leaves collected before flowering are edible after cooked. Leaves become bitter and mildly toxic with age. Fruits are edible when dark purple-black and ripe. They taste similar to tomatoes and can be used in salads, jams, or applesauce.
Black nightshade must be differentiated from deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna). Deadly nightshade produces purple or greenish flowers. Berries are shiny black and grow individually. The calyx is longer than the fruit. As few as two deadly nightshade berries can be lethal.
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Written by Amy Demers, founder of the Connecticut Foraging Club. To learn more about foraging in Connecticut, check out our upcoming classes.
