''Solanum umbelliferum'' is a species of nightshade known commonly as bluewitch nightshade, or bluewitch. It can be found in chaparral habitat and low-elevation

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

woodlands in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and parts of

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. It is a small perennial herb or subshrub with dark gray-green oval-shaped leaves on hairy green stems that grow to a maximum height of one meter. It has bright purple or blue frilly flowers with thick yellow anthers at the center. The flowers close into spherical buds overnight. It bears small round green fruits which turn purple when ripe and resemble tiny eggplants. It is a tough shrub which can grow in rocky and clay soils and springs up in areas recovering from

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

s or other disturbances. Like most other members of genus ''Solanum'', ''S. umbelliferum'' contains toxic

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

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