Home > Plants > Solanaceae > Solanum americanum

Updated 8/13/2023

Family Solanaceae

HAWAII - INDIGENOUS?

Solanum americanum

Ka'ena Point, Oahu

 

WCC, Kane'ohe, Oahu

 

Makapu'u, Oahu

 



Pu'u Huluhulu, Hawaii


Pu'u Huluhulu, Hawaii

GLOSSY NIGHTSHADE    POPOLO

Weedy annual or short-lived perennial of disturbed areas.  Shiny black fruits are edible & used medicinally.  Native to North America but a common weed in warm & temperate areas worldwide.  There's some debate whether it arrived to Hawaii naturally or carried by Polynesian settlers.  Often misidentified as Solanum nigrum, which is the Eurasian counterpart.  It has black poisonous fruit with dull skin.