Flora of Israel: Solanum nigrum

Solanum nigrum, Black nightshade, Common nightshade, Hound’s berry,
Hebrew: סולנום שחור, Arabic:عنب الذيب الأسود, Egypt: عنب الديب “Enab El-Deib”


Scientific name:		Solanum nigrum L.
Common name:		Black nightshade, Common nightshade, Hound’s berry
Hebrew name:		סולנום שחור
Arabic name:		عنب الذيب الأسود
Egypt:		عنب الديب “Enab El-Deib”
Family:		Solanaceae, סולניים


Life form:		Hemicryptophyte
Stems:		Up to 70 cm high; stems decumbent to erect, branched, with costate (having ribs) branches; green to purple
Leaves:		Alternate, entire
Inflorescence:		Lateral lax cymes, 4-10-flowered, on 3-5cm long peduncles
Flowers:		White, with yellow central anthers; pedicels longer than the flowers, recurved in fruit; calyx-lobes ovate, adhering to the base of the fruit; corolla 2-3 times longer than the calyx
Fruits / pods:		Berries usually broadly ovoid, dull purple to blackish or yellowish-green, 6-10 mm broad, remaining on plants or falling from calyces when ripe; seeds 1.7-2.4 mm long, 26 to 60 per berry. berries are poisonous
Flowering Period:		Spring, summer
Habitat:		Disturbed ground
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:		Euro-Siberian – Med – Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

Derivation of the botanical name:

Solanum, Latin for “quieting,” in reference to the narcotic properties of some species.

nigrum, black, blackness; referring to the color of the seeds.
The Hebrew name: סולנום, solanum, transliteration from the scientific name.

The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.

See the list of Medicinal herbs in Israel, the parts used and their medical uses to treat various diseases.