Solanum deflexicarpum Seeds | Deflexed-fruit Nightshade
LATIN NAME: Solanum deflexicarpum
COMMON NAME: Deflexed-fruit Nightshade
Plant Profile
Deflexed-fruit Nightshade (Solanum deflexicarpum) grows as an annual. Deflexed-fruit nightshade spreads soft-wooded, annual to short-lived perennial with oval, wavy-edged, dark-green leaves and small, white to pale-violet flowers with yellow centres, small, round, green to yellow berries turning downward on nodding stalks as they ripen. It grows quickly into loose, branching form, and it stands warm season well. It likes sun, and deep, rich, well-drained soil. Bees find the flowers quickly, and that pollinator traffic is a garden benefit in its own right. Gardeners value it precisely for this blend of qualities.
Science & Biotechnology
Solanum deflexicarpum sits in the Solanum group, a group that keeps botanists, horticulturists and plant breeders busy with questions of classification, adaptation and ornamental potential. Deflexed-fruit nightshade turns up in surveys of the wild Solanum relatives, and deflexicarpum species appears in studies of berry-dispersal mechanisms and nodding fruit stalks. Because it has been grown for so long, its garden habits are thoroughly documented.
Uses & Benefits
Deflexed-fruit Nightshade brings genuine presence to the garden and earns its keep across the growing season. In wayside scrub, deflexed-fruit nightshade carries nodding berry clusters through warm months. White flowers open through season, fruit set follows in good time, and plant makes curious botanical specimen. Like other nightshades, unripe berries hold alkaloid compounds and are for eyes only, not the table. In later seasons it demands little more than an appreciative eye.
The nightshade genus feeds the world, potato, tomato, eggplant, and arms it too: goji is its tonic member, while many ornamentals carry toxic solanine-type alkaloids, so identification is everything in this genus.
Growing from Seed
Raising Deflexed-fruit Nightshade from seed is straightforward. Scatter the seed evenly over a loose seed compost, cover to no more than its own depth, and keep the pot moist and bright. When the young plants are big enough to handle, space them into pots or a nursery row and let them size up before their final move.
Our Take
It grows as an annual, so its place in the garden is easy to plan. Given the right start, Deflexed-fruit Nightshade is a long-term garden companion. In a sunny, freely drained position it needs little looking after.
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