Silver-leaf Nightshade is a prickly plant with a violet to pale lavender flower. It extends one to three feet tall in dry areas of the South Texas Plains and the Edwards Plateau. The leaves are 1 1/2 to 6 inches long and can have straight to wavy edges. It is in bloom from April to September. The ripe yellow fruit is toxic to livestock but used by Native Americans to make cheese and as a poison ivy antidote. Silver-leaf Nightshade fruits are eaten by feral pigs, javelinas, and white-tailed deer. The seeds are consumed by bobwhite quail. |