• Family : SOLANACEAE
  (Nightshade Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : BAINGAN FAMILY (बैंगन फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : Solanaceae
• Synonym(s) : Solanum humile Salisb.; Solanum morella Desf.; Solanum morella subsp. nigrum (L.) Rouy; Solanum nigrum var. genuinum Hassl.; Solanum nigrum var. humile Macloskie; Solanum nigrum var. legitimum Neilr.; Solanum vulgatum Baumg.; Solanum vulgatum var. nigrum (L.) Spenn.
• Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Solanum nigrum L.
• Common name : Black nightshade, Apple of sodom, American black nightshade, Black nightshade, Common nightshade
• Vernacular name :
  • Kamuni (Hindi)
  • Kakki hannu soppu (Kannada)
  • Milaguthakkali, Karuntha, Manathakkalli, Kaasithazhai (Tamil)
  • Kasi, Kamanchi, Gajju chettu, Kachchi pundu (Telugu)
  • Nunununi, Thutguna (Oria)
  • Eradakukkeera, Karimthakkali, Mullakuthakkali, Manathakkali, Tudavalam (Malayalam)
• Habit : Herb
• Habitat : Degraded moist deciduous forest and also waste places
• Comments / notes : Cultivated all over Eastern Ghats for its edible leaves and berries which are used in traditional cooking.
• Flower, Fruit : Throughout the year
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Anantapur district, Chittoor district, Y.S.R. Kadapa district, East Godavari district, Guntur district, Krishna district, Kurnool district, S.P.S. Nellore district, Prakasam district, Srikakulam district, Visakhapatnam district, Vizianagaram district, West Godavari district
  • Telangana : Nalgonda district, Khammam district, Mahbubnagar district
  • Karnataka : Ballari district, Kolar district, Chamarajanagara district
  • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
  • Maharashtra : Akola district, Mumbai-City district, Mumbai Suburban district
  • Odisha : Angul district, Balasore district, Bargarh district, Balangir district, Boudh district, Cuttack district, Deogarh district, Dhenkanal district, Gajapati district, Ganjam district, Kalahandi district, Kandhamal district, Kendrapara district, Kendujhar district, Khordha district, Koraput district, Malkangiri district, Mayurbhanj district, Puri district, Rayagada district, Sambalpur district, Sundargarh district
  • Tamil Nadu : Coimbatore district, Dindigul district, Dharmapuri district, Kancheepuram (Changalpattu-CGP) district, Karur district, Krishnagiri district, Madurai district, Namakkal district, Pudukkottai district, Sivaganga district, Salem district, Tiruchirapalli district, Tiruvannamalai district, Villipuram district, Vellore district
  • Arunachal Pradesh : Changlang, Kameng, Lohit, Siang, Subansiri, Tirap
  • Delhi : Delhi
  • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
  • Punjab : Punjab
• Native : Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Altay, Amur, Andaman Islands, Austria, Azores, Baleares, Baltic States, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Central European Rus, Chad, China, Chita, Corse, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dj
• Exotic/Native : Native
• World Distribution : Cosmopolitan
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature :
  • Pullaiah et al., 2011 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 4
  • H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 2
  • R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District
  • R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District
  • H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa
  • N.P.Singh, 1988. Flora of Eastern Karnataka
  • Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983
  • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
  • G.S Giri., A.Pramanik., H.J. Chowdhery., G.D Pal and S.K. Das (2008). Materials for Arunachal Pradesh, Vol (2), Pg: 207
• Read more :
  • Plants of the World Online
  • World Flora Online
  • Global Plants on JSTOR
• Permalink : http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Solanum nigrum
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Flora Online. http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Solanum nigrum. Downloaded on 18 February 2026.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Line Drawings

Field Image(s)

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution