Solanum douglasii Dunal   Solanaceae (Nightshade Family)   Native   Douglas' Nightshade

                                         May Photo

Plant Characteristics: Perennial, +/- woody, 1-2 m. tall; herbage puberulent to subglabrous, the stem-angles rough-pubescent; lf. blades ovate, 2-10 cm. long, sinuate-dentate, subacuminate; petioles 1-2.5 cm. long; infl. generally umbel- like peduncles 1-3 cm. long; pedicels 0.5-1.2 cm. long; calyx 2-3 mm. long at anthesis, with lance-oblong lobes; corolla deeply 5-cleft, whitish with greenish basal spots, 1-2 cm. broad, the lobes lance-oblong, 6-11 mm. long; anthers ca. 3-4 mm. long; berry black, 6-9 mm. in diam.

Habitat:  Partly shaded slopes, in canyons, etc. below 3500 ft.; Coastal Sage Scrub, Chaparral, Coastal Strand, etc.; cismontane mainland, San Clemente and Santa Catalina Ids. and Channel Ids.; to cent. Calif., L. Calif., Mex.  Most of the year.

Name:  Solanum is "quieting" in Latin and was given because of the narcotic properties of some species.  The species name is in honor of David Douglas, 1798-1834, Scottish botanist.  He made several scientific journeys to America spending some four years (1829-1832), mostly in California, collecting for the Horticultural Society of London.  Douglas provided the material from which some 300 species of California plants were to be described.  (Jaeger 308).

General:  Common in the study area.   Photographed along Back Bay Dr. between the Newporter Inn and San Joaquin Hills Dr., also westerly of the Delhi Ditch.  (my comments).     The Indians are said to have used the juice of the berries for tattooing and to cure inflamed eyes.  (Dale 194).      The nightshade has been suspected in livestock poisoning.  (Robbins et al. 389).      The fruit are not poisonous and are called wild tomato.  (lecture by Charlotte Clarke, author of Edible and Useful Plants of California, April 1987.      The Cahuilla Indians, inhabitants of the Colorado Desert, the San Jacinto and San Bernardino Mountains, used the juice of S. douglasii medicinally for sore or infected eyes.  The juice was squeezed directly into the eye or first diluted with water.  It was considered a cure for pink eye and a remedy for eye strain.  It was also said that as an eye wash the nightshade improved the vision of older people.  Solanine, a glyco-alkaloid, found throughout the plant is extremely toxic.  (Bean and Saubel 140).      While Clarke reports that the fruit of S. douglasii is not poisonous,  Lampe, K.F. and McCann, M.A. 1985, report in the AMA Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants that the green fruit of S. nigrum, a species found in Orange County, is extremely toxic, containing glyco-alkaloids.       All kinds of animals can be poisoned and have died after ingesting unripe berries.  Children have been poisoned and have died after ingesting the unripe berries.  The ripe berries cause reduced symptoms of mild abdominal pains, vomiting and diarrhea.    Cooper, M.R. and Johnson, A.W. 1984, in Poisonous Plants in Britain and Their Effects on Animals and Man report that the common potato, S. tuberosum, cultivated for its edible tubers is sometimes toxic.  The entire plant contains toxic glyco-alkaloids but usually in harmless quantities in the edible tubers.  However, in the presence of light, the tubers photosynthesize and increase the amount of toxins.  The skin, eyes, and sprouts of the tubers can develop toxic amounts of glyco-alkaloids.  Even the flesh of the tuber can develop toxic quantities of the glyco-alkaloids.  Cattle, sheep and swine as well as humans were poisoned and died after ingesting parts of the potato plant.  The berries contain 10-20 times more glyco-alkaloids than the tubers.  Care should be taken to store potatoes in light-proof paper bags.  Potato peelings and sprouts destined for the compost heap should be buried and kept from dogs or other animals.            Ingesting a potato, S. tuberosum, with green flesh, skin or tubers causes sickness and, in some cases, human fatalities.  Symptoms of ingestion include those common to gastrointestinal problems and nervous disorders.  Clinical signs include headache, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.  Neurological symptoms include apathy, restlessness, drowsiness, stupor, confusion, hallucinations, dizziness, trembling, and visual impairment.  Certain birth defects are believed to result from ingesting potatoes with potato blight (Phytophthora infestans).  However, no definitive proof has been found yet. (McMillan, M., Thompson, J.C. 1979. "An Outbreak of Suspected Solanine Poisoning in Schoolboys: Examination of Criteria of Solanine Poisoning."  Q.J Med., 48: 227-243).       The berries of S nodiflorum are poisonous, but boiling destroys the toxic properties in the ripe, black, berries, often they are made into pies.  Although the old leaves are poisonous, it is said that young leaves and stems can be boiled as a pot herb.  Indians used a decoction as an eye wash.  (Sweet 54).      Over 1000 species, of all continents, but especially trop. America.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 838),

Text Ref:  Hickman, Ed. 1076; Munz, Calif. Flora 597; Munz, Flora So. Calif.  839; Roberts 40.

Photo Ref:  Feb-Mar 83 # 3,6; June 5 83 # 8; July 2 83 # 10; July 2 83 # 10; Jan 1 84 # 2; Jan 2 84 # 21; May 06 #10A.

Identity: by R. De Ruff, confirmed by F. Roberts.

First Found:  February 1983.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 286.

Have plant specimen.

Last edit 6/3/06.