Solanum triflorum

Cutleaf nightshade

Family: Solanaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Cutleaf nightshade is a naturalized annual plant found in northern and southern Sierra Nevada (eastern slope), Southern California coastal areas, Great Basin, and northern Mojave Desert regions in dry scrub, juniper woodland, and conifer forest at elevations of 100 to 2,300 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces white flowers with a greenish-yellow throat, approximately 7 to 9 millimeters in diameter, arranged in small clusters of 1 to 6 blossoms. Growing with decumbent stems 10 to 50 centimeters long, the plant is covered in fine, curved, spreading hairs that give it a soft, delicate appearance. Its leaves are fleshy and deeply lobed, measuring 2 to 5 centimeters long, with an oblong to ovate shape that appears somewhat shiny and nearly hairless on the upper surface. The fruit develops as a green structure 8 to 12 millimeters long, containing numerous yellow seeds and distinctive clusters of stone cells.

Habitat: Dry scrub, juniper woodland, conifer forest

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: 100-2300 m

Bioregions: n SNH, s SNH (e slope), SCo, GB, n DMoj

California counties: Los Angeles, Siskiyou, Lassen, Mono, Riverside, San Bernardino, Kern, Modoc, Inyo, Sierra, Nevada, Humboldt, San Joaquin, Shasta, San Diego

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.