Arizona Wild Flowers
Wildflower Pictures And Photos

Silver Leaf Nightshade, Solanum elaeagnifolium

Silver Leaf Nightshade, Solanum elaeagnifolium Photo Taken July 21, 2003 Glendale.
Rare White Flower Silver Leaf Nightshade, Solanum elaeagnifolium Photo Taken July 24, 2008. Wilhoit, Arizona.

Silver Leaf Nightshade, Plant	Solanum elaeagnifolium
Poison Bees Don't Use It	Contains Protein That Curdles Milk
Nightshade Seed Pod	Nightshade Seed Pod
Silver Leaf Nightshade Rare White Blossem	Silver Leaf Nightshade Rare White Blossem

Silver Leaf Nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium, Caltrop Family ( Solanaceae ), Silver Leaf Nightshade: Also called tomato weed, trompillo, white horsenettle, and white nightshade. Herb, Perennial, native to the USA. On Arizona's list of Prohibited Noxious-Weed Seed. Silverleaf nightshade is rich in solasodine, a chemical used in the manufacture of steroidal hormones. A protein-digesting hormone resembling papain is present in its fruits. Pima Indians added crushed berries to milk when making cheese. Silverleaf nightshade is a summer-growing perennial plant, with an extensive root system. Roots can grow very deep (6 to 10 feet) and extend horizontally to produce shoots 6 feet away from the parent plant. Shoots start to emerge from established plants as the soil warms in late March to early April. Plants may begin to flower in early May. Ripe fruits may be present in June, and some seeds are viable the season they are produced. Seedlings may appear in August and September in flooded areas. Plants die back in winter and reappear from roots in the spring. Height: Up To About 3 feet. Spreading out to about 5 foot wide. Flowers: Violet - blue. Rarely white in color. The flowers have 5 lobes, 5 stamens, and are 1 inch in diameter. The flowers have 5 fused petals, ¾ inch across, with bright yellow stamens. Flowers grow on stalks in clusters or singly at the end of stems or branches. Blooming Time: May to October. Leaves: The silvery leaves are oblong to lance-shaped with wavy edges. Poisonous. The leaves are 1 to 4 inches long by 1 inch wide, they are covered with short, silvery-white, star-shaped hairs that give the plant a dusky or silvery-gray color. Fruit: The fruits are yellow to brownish, juicy berries, ½ inch in diameter. Seeds are flat, brown and 1/10 to 1/5 inch long. Shape: Prostrate, branched, radiating to 5 feet from top of taproot, hairy, becoming nearly glabrous. Elevation: 0 - 4500 Feet. Habitat: On cultivated, waste and fallow land, roadsides, yards. It also can be found in perennial fields and on cultivated land. Miscellaneous: Flowering Photos Taken July 14, 2003 In Glendale. Rare White Blossem Photo Taken July 24, 2008. Arizona Highway 89, Large, Gravel Turnout - West side of highway. North Entrance To Wilhoit, Arizona.