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Solanum nigrum, Linn. Black Nightshade. Morella of the French. Low unarmed herbaceous annual or suffrutescent in warm climates, glabrous or the young parts sometimes sparingly pubescent: lvs. simple, ovate, narrowed at both ends, entire or more frequently sinuate-toothed, petioled: fls. small, white, in pedunculate lateral cymes; calyx much shorter than the corolla with small obtuse lobes; corolla about 1/2 in. diam.: berry globular, black, about 1/4 in. diam. A widely distributed weed in all temperate and tropical regions.—In the Dakotas, according to Hansen, the plant is often called "stubbleberry," as it volunteers freely in wheat-stubble, and the fr. is used there for pies and preserves. Hansen finds that the plants withstand considerable frost. In warm countries, according to Vilmorin, the lvs. are sometimes eaten as spinach is, "and apparently without any injurious result, although the plant belongs to the dangerous family of the Solanaceae." The species is extremely variable, and much difference of opinion exists in regard to the poisonous qualities of the berries. Possibly differences exist in this respect in different forms but not correlated with characters recognizable by the systematist. Var. guineense, Linn., with scarcely angled to angular smooth st., broadly ovate lvs. glabrous above and glabrous or sparingly pilose below, deeply lobed calyx and relatively large fr., is the "garden huckleberry" (Fig. 3629). This form is cult. to some extent in some sections and the fr. used for pies and preserves. Another form, S. Burbankii, bitter, with foliage rather dark green above, and erect or ascending peduncles, is stated by the originator to be a hybrid between the "garden huckleberry" and S. villosum of the Pacific coast. In some characters it appears to be intermediate between its supposed parents, and it is used as is the former.
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