Can you guess this weed?

Picture provided by Iowa State University.

This weed is a summer annual found east of the Rocky Mountains. It’s a member of the Solanaceae or the Nightshade family. Can you guess it?

The answer: Eastern Black Nightshade! Even its name sounds a bit shady and ominous! This toxic plant can be a problem in crop fields, pastures, and gardens.

Picture provided by University of Missouri.

Eastern Black Nightshade can reach heights of about 2 feet tall. The leaves are alternately arranged and are triangular to ovate in shape. Leaves will commonly have holes from beetle feeding! Some young leaves may have a purple tint on the bottom and some leaf margins have teeth. The flowers of Eastern Black Nightshade are white, shaped like a star, and have yellow anthers. The fruit (don’t eat them) are black, small berries. 

Pictures provided by Iowa State University.

This weed was a serious problem in the 1970s and 1980s due to their berries being difficult to separate from the grain when harvesting soybeans. All parts of this plant are toxic to ingest.

For more information on how to control Eastern Black Nightshade, contact your local BASF Representative.

Additional reading:

Eastern black nightshade | Integrated Crop Management (iastate.edu)

Eastern Black Nightshade // Mizzou WeedID (missouri.edu)

BASF provides the information in this article as a service to its customers; however, the views expressed by guest writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of BASF.