Solanum umbelliferum var. glabrescens

Bald blue-witch nightshade

Family: Solanaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Bald blue-witch nightshade is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Sutter Buttes, central and southwestern coastal regions, and North Coast Ranges in dry chaparral, oak and pine woodlands, and pine forests at elevations below 2,000 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces lavender to blue flowers in loose umbel-like clusters with blossoms approximately 2 centimeters in diameter. Growing as a much-branched subshrub up to one meter tall with slender, slightly hairy stems, it forms a compact and intricate structure. Its leaves are 2 to 7 centimeters long, lanceolate to elliptic in shape, with entire or slightly wavy edges that taper smoothly to the base. The fruit is a small round berry approximately 7 to 10 millimeters in diameter.

Habitat: Dry chaparral, oak/pine woodland, pine forest

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, SN, ScV (Sutter Buttes), CW, SW, MP

California counties: San Diego, Butte, Riverside, San Bernardino, Solano, Lake, Shasta, Colusa, Yolo, Trinity, Glenn, Sierra, Humboldt, Siskiyou, Sutter, Plumas, Tehama, Del Norte, Mendocino, Tulare, Placer, Yuba, Mariposa, Napa, Los Angeles, Modoc, Orange

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