Solanum umbelliferum var. umbelliferum

Blue witch nightshade

Family: Solanaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Blue witch nightshade is a California native perennial found in brushy and wooded sites at elevations up to 1,000 meters. Flowering from January to June, this plant produces bluish lavender flowers about 15 to 20 millimeters in diameter in small umbel-like clusters. Growing up to 1.2 meters tall with gray-green stems covered in fine branched hairs, it forms a distinctive subshrub with a delicate appearance. Its leaves are elliptic to ovate, 2 to 7.5 centimeters long, with entire margins or occasionally few-lobed near the base. The fruit is a greenish white berry 8 to 15 millimeters long, darkening to green at the base.

Habitat: Brushy and wooded sites

Bloom period: Jan-Jun

Elevation: <= 1000 m

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