Blue witch, blue witch or chaparral nightshade

Solanum clokeyi Munz; S. obispoense Eastwood; S. parishii A. Heller; S. tenuilobatum Parish; S. umbelliferum var. clokeyi (Munz) D. J. Keil; S. umbelliferum var. glabrescens Torrey; S. umbelliferum var. hoffmannii (Munz) D. J. Keil; S. umbelliferum var. incanum Torrey; S. umbelliferum var. intermedium (Parish) D. J. Keil; S. umbelliferum var. montanum (Munz) D. J. Keil; S. umbelliferum var. obispoense (Eastwood) D. J. Keil; S. umbelliferum var. xanti (A. Gray) D. J. Keil; S. wallacei (A. Gray) Parish var. clokeyi (Munz) McMinn; S. xanti A. Gray; S. xanti var. glabrescens Parish; S. xanti var. hoffmannii Munz; S. xanti var. intermedium Parish; S. xanti var. montanum Munz

Shrubs or subshrubs, erect or somewhat spreading, unarmed, to 1.5 m, glabrous to densely pubescent, hairs unbranched, to 2 mm, glandular or eglandular and dendritic. Leaves petiolate; petiole 0.2–1.5(–3) cm; blade simple, lanceolate to ovate or obovate, (0.5–)1–4(–9) × 0.5–2(–6.5) cm, margins entire to pinnatifid with 1(–3) pairs of lobes at base, lobe margins entire to undulate, base attenuate to truncate, occasionally sub­cordate. Inflorescences terminal or lateral, leaf-opposed or extra-axillary, simple or once-branched, 5–20-flowered, 1–8 cm. Pedicels inserted into small sleeve on inflorescence axis, 0.5–1.5 cm in flower, 1.2–2 cm in fruit. Flowers radially symmetric; calyx slightly accrescent, unarmed, 2.5–5.5 mm, glabrous to densely pubescent, hairs unbranched or dendritic, lobes broadly deltate; corolla pale to deep purple or occasionally white, with green spots edged with white at base of lobes, spots separate or confluent, rotate, (1–)1.3–2.5 cm diam., with abundant interpetalar tissue; stamens equal; anthers ellipsoidal, slightly tapered, 3.5–4.5 mm, dehiscent by terminal pores that open into longitudinal slits; ovary glabrous. Berries green, greenish black, or black, globose, 1–2 cm diam., glabrous, without scle­rotic granules. Seeds reddish brown, flattened, ca. 2 × 1.5 mm, minutely pitted.

Flowering Feb–Nov (most of the year in California). Sand dunes, chaparral, coastal sage scrub, rocky slopes, pine forests; 0–2000 m; Ariz., Calif., Nev., Oreg., Wash.; Mexico (Baja California).

Solanum umbelliferum is common in the western part of North America from Washington to Baja California. It is found throughout California except for Modoc Plateau, Desert Province, and Central Valley.

Past treatments have divided Solanum umbelliferum into a number of taxa based on leaf size and shape and pubescence type and density, but the most recent mono­graph (S. Knapp 2013) regarded it as one highly variable and widespread species in which no character discontin­uities can be seen. Glabrous populations from north­ern California have been called S. parishii, sticky-glandular populations from central and southern California S. xanti, glabrous populations from southern California have been called var. glabrescens, and densely pubescent eglandular populations from central California have been called S. californicum Dunal. Island populations with larger leaves have been called S. clokeyi (but see 52. S. wallacei, a distinct endemic on Santa Catalina Island). A number of new varietal combinations were published by D. J. Keil (2018) to accommodate much of this regional and local variation, but the group needs thorough study using both molecular and morphological analysis across its range to assess the taxonomic validity of these segregants. Some of the variation may be environmental.