Black Nightshade (Solanum ptycanthum)

Nightshade family (Solanaceae)

Description: This rather variable annual plant is native or adventive. It is about 1-3' tall and branches frequently. The stems are more or less hairy, but not prickly. The alternate leaves are up to 3" long and 2" across, with margins that are smooth, undulate, or bluntly dentate. They are usually broadly lanceolate, ovate, or deltoid, with a fine pubescence or scattered short hairs across the surface, especially on the undersides. The petioles are long and slender. The foliage of Black Nightshade is green or dark green. From the upper portion of the stems (rather than the leaf axils), there occasionally develops nodding umbels of white flowers from a short stalk (peduncle) about 1" long. Each umbel has 3-10 flowers. Both the peduncle of the umbel and the pedicels of the flowers are green and finely pubescent. Each flower is about 1/3" across, and consists of a star-like white corolla with 5 tapering lobes that curve backward. Projecting from the center of the corolla, there are 5 stamens with large yellow anthers that are appressed together against the pistil. The green sepals are shaped like blunt triangles. The blooming period usually occurs during the summer or early fall. A single plant may produce flowers sporadically for about 2 months. Each flower is replaced by a small round berry about 1/3" across. A berry has a smooth surface that is initially green, but later becomes black as it matures. This berry is juicy and contains several flat seeds that are yellow or brown. The root system consists of a slender taproot that branches frequently. This plant spreads by reseeding itself.

Cultivation: Black Nightshade is an adaptable plant that flourishes in full or partial sun, moist to mesic situations, and almost any kind of soil, especially fertile loam. The size of a plant depends heavily on moisture levels and soil fertility. The foliage is usually little bothered by insect pests and disease.

Range & Habitat: This common plant has been observed in most counties of Tennessee. It can be found in thickets, openings in degraded woodlands, rocky bluffs, cropland and pastures, gardens, vacant lots, areas along railroads, and waste areas. This plant is more common at sites with a history of disturbance and is rather weedy. Different authorities provide differing accounts of the origination of Black Nightshade: Some claim it is a native species with a worldwide distribution, while others believe that it is adventive from Europe, South America, or India.

Faunal Associations: Bumblebees collect pollen from the flowers. The caterpillars of the moth Heliothis subflexus (Subflexus Straw) feed on this plant, as well as other members of the Nightshade family. The small black berries are eaten primarily by birds, which includes the following: Wood Duck, Sora Rail, Ring-Necked Pheasant, Wild Turkey, Cardinal, Catbird, Eastern Meadowlark, and Swamp Sparrow. These birds help to distribute the seeds far and wide. Mammalian herbivores avoid this plant because the foliage contains the toxic alkaloid, solanum.

Photographic Location: Sycamore Ridge Ranch, Middle Tennessee

Comments: The berries of Black Nightshade are edible to humans, if they are fully ripe and eaten in small quantities. Green berries contain the toxic alkaloid, solanum, like the foliage. There are several Solanum spp. that occur in Illinois. They fall into two groups: Those species with sharp bristles or spines, and those species without sharp bristles or spines. Black Nightshade falls into the latter group. The Solanum spp. in this latter group can be distinguished from each other by the appearance of their leaves: Black Nightshade has broader leaves that are without deep lobes along their sides, and they lack conspicuous silvery hairs. Some Solanum spp. have mature berries that are either green or yellow, but the mature berries of Black Nightshade are always black. Other scientific names for this species are Solanum nigrum and Solanum americanum.

Jumpseed, Virginia Knotweed (Polygonum virginianum L.)

Family - Polygonaceae

A synonym is Tovara virginiana (L.) Raf.

Photographic Location: Sycamore Ridge Ranch, Middle TN

Stems - To +1m tall, non-woody, hairy above, glabrescent below, erect. The pubescence ferruginous.

Leaves - Alternate, petiolate, pubescent on both surfaces or glabrous below, ovate, to +15cm long, +8cm wide. Ocrea fringed with cilia, pubescent.

Inflorescence - Typically a terminal raceme, but some axillary, to 40cm long. Flowers loosely arranged on the inflorescnece.

Flowers - Perianth parts 4, whitish to pinkish, +/-3mm long, acute, glabrous. Stamens typically 4, slightly exserted. Filaments whitish, glabrous, 2mm long. Anthers pale yellow to whitish, -1mm long. Styles 2, persistent in fruit to form a "beak".

Flowering - July - October.
Habitat - Rich, moist woods.

Origin - Native to U.S.

Other info. - This species can be found throughout Tennessee. It is easy to identify in the field because of its hairy ocrea, big, alternate leaves, and long inflorescences. The plant is very common in shaded, rich areas.

Bush Honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii (Rupr.) Maxim.)

Family - Caprifoliaceae

Stems - Woody, multiple from base. A shrub to +5m tall, erect. New seasons growth tomentose. Twigs tomentose, typically hollow.

Leaves - Opposite, petiolate, simple. Petioles to +/-6mm long, tomentose. Blades ovate-lanceolate, acute to acuminate, entire, to +/-9cm long, +/-4cm broad, typically glabrous adaxially but sometimes with pubescence on midrib, pubescent abaxially especially on veins. Margins ciliolate.

Inflorescence - Axillary pedunculate paired flowers. Peduncles +/-3mm long, pubescent, with a pair of small bracts at the joint in the peduncle. Bracts to 3mm long, linear, ciliate. Pair of bracts subtending the calyx and ovary to 1.7mm long, rounded, ciliate-margined, green, pubescent.

Flowers - Corolla white when fresh, fading to a yellowish-white when older, often with some pinkish tinge at base of tube. Corolla tube to 9mm long, 2-3mm in diameter, tomentose externally, pubescent internally. Corolla bilabiate. Lower lip single-lobed. Lobe to +1.5cm long, 4mm broad, rounded at apex, glabrous internally, tomentose externally. Upper lip 4-lobed. Lobes to +1.5cm long, rounded at apex, pubescent externally, glabrous internally. Stamens 5, exserted, alternating with the corolla lobes, adnate at apex of corolla tube. Filaments to 1.1cm long, pubescent at base, glabrous near apex, white. Anthers yellow, to 6mm long, 1.2mm broad. Style white, 1.6cm long, pubescent, exserted. Stigma green, capitate. Ovary inferior, green, 3-locular, 1.5mm in diameter, sub-globose. Placentation axile. Calyx tube +/-1.5mm long, 5-lobed, pubescent, green. Lobes unequal, shallow, +/-1mm long, acute, greenish-white. Fruits red, 2-4mm in diameter, glabrous, fleshy.

Habitat - Disturbed sites, thickets, roadsides, railroads, woodland borders.

Origin - Native to Asia.

Other info. - This nasty and aggressive species was brought to North America in 1855 as an ornamental. It has since spread rapidly and is found over much of the eastern half of the U.S. from Kansas east. The berries are eaten by birds which helps the plant spread rapidly. There are other species of bush honeysuckles in Missouri but this is the most aggressive and common.

Ivy-Leaved Morning Glory (Ipomoea hederacea)

Bindweed family (Convolvulaceae)

Description: This annual vine is up to 6' long, branching occasionally. The terete stems are light green to dull red, and more or less covered with white hairs. The stems twine about surrounding vegetation, or sprawl about haphazardly. The alternate leaves are up to 4" long and 3½" across; they are medium to dark green, deeply 3-lobed, and indented at their bases. Each lobe is widest in the middle and tapers to a blunt tip. The margins of the leaves are smooth and somewhat undulating, while the upper surface is sparsely hairy. The petioles are light green to dull red, terete, sparsely to moderately hairy, and about one-half of the length of the leaves.

The flowering stalks develop from the axils of the leaves and are quite short (¼" or less), producing 1-3 flowers. The corollas of the flowers are funnelform and about 2" across; they are initially blue-violet, fading to pale purplish pink with age. Deep within its throat, the corolla is white. The hairy green calyx is about ½" long; it is divided into 5 teeth that are linear-lanceolate. These teeth often curl outward at their tips. The flowers bloom only during the mornings on sunny days, although they may remain open longer on cloudy days. Although each flower lasts only a few hours, the blooming period typically lasts about 2 months (from mid-summer into fall). Each flower is replaced by a 3-celled capsule containing 4-6 seeds. The rather large seeds are brown to black and wedge-shaped; their surfaces are dull. The root system consists of a slender taproot. This vine spreads by reseeding itself.

Cultivation: The preference is full or partial sun, mesic conditions, and fertile loamy soil, although it will adapt to other kinds of soil. The seeds don't germinate until the soil becomes warm during early summer. This plant can spread aggressively in open areas with exposed ground.

Range & Habitat: Introduced from tropical America. Naturalized to disturbed areas, fence rows, fields and waste places throughout the eastern U.S. and TN. Frequent

Faunal Associations: The flowers of Ivy-Leaved Morning Glory are pollinated by bumblebees and other long-tongued bees. The large seeds are rarely eaten by birds, although the Ring-Necked Pheasant and Bobwhite Quail utilize them as a food source to a limited extent. Similarly, the foliage is rarely eaten by mammalian herbivores.

Photographic Location: Sycamore Ridge Ranch, Middle TN

Comments: The short-lived flowers are beautiful. Ivy-Leaved Morning Glory is easily distinguished from other Ipomoea spp. (Morning Glory species) and Calystegia spp. (Bindweed species) because of its distinctive 3-lobed leaves. There is some variability in the hairiness of the stems and foliage across different local populations.

American White Waterlily, White water lily, Fragrant Water Lily (Nymphaea odorata Ait.)

Nymphaeaceae (Water-Lily Family)

Synonyms: Nymphaea odorata ssp. tuberosa, Nymphaea tuberosa

USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Photographic Location: Wilson County TN

A floating aquatic plant with large, fragrant, white or pink flowers and flat, round, floating leaves. The leaves have long stems and are bright green above and reddish or purplish underneath, almost round. They are narrowly and deeply cut almost to the center, where the stem is attached. They are up to 10 inches across, floating on the surface of the water or just beneath. There is 1 flower to a stem, white, fragrant, 2–6 inches across, and floating on the water. Flowers open in the early morning and close about noon. There are 4 sepals and many rows of white petals, often more than 25, which are 3/4–4 inches long, thick, and pointed at the tip. There are more than 70 stamens. The outer ones are large and petal-like; they become smaller toward the center.

One of the most common white water-lilies, Fragrant Water-lilys flowers and leaves float on the water. It usually flowers only from early morning until noon. The stomata, tiny openings on the leaf surface through which carbon dioxide and other gases pass into the plant, are on the upper, shiny leaf surface rather than on the lower surface as is the case for most dry-land plants. The leaf stalk, which is soft and spongy, has 4 main air channels for the movement of gases, especially oxygen, from the leaves to the large stems (rhizomes) buried in the muck, which are frequently eaten by muskrats. The Small White Water-lily (N. tetragona), has white flowers 2 1/2 (6.3 cm) wide with only 7—13 petals, that open in the afternoon.