About Solanum umbelliferum var. glabrescens Torr.
Solanum umbelliferum, commonly called bluewitch nightshade or bluewitch, is a species of nightshade. This plant occurs in chaparral habitats and low-elevation oak woodlands across California, parts of Baja California, and Arizona. It is a small perennial herb or subshrub, reaching a maximum height of one meter. It has dark gray-green oval leaves growing on hairy green stems. Its flowers are bright purple or blue, frilly in texture, with thick yellow anthers at the center, and these flowers close into spherical buds overnight. It produces small round green fruits that turn purple when ripe, which look like tiny eggplants. This is a tough shrub that can grow in rocky and clay soils, and it sprouts readily in areas recovering from wildfires or other disturbances. Like most other species in the genus Solanum, Solanum umbelliferum contains toxic alkaloids.
