Article Nº 1785 Plant Vol. II · p. 236
Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum)
Original title: Herva-de-Santa-Maria (Solanum nigrum)
Black nightshade, a weed of Funchal whose crushed leaves with olive oil make a healing ointment for wounds.
A member of the nightshade family (Solanaceae) with ovate or rhomboidal leaves, usually sinuate-toothed; white flowers gathered in corymb-like cymes; and berries that turn black when ripe. It grows on rubble, on walls, in cultivated places, etc., in Funchal and its surroundings. The leaves of this plant are used as an anodyne; when they are cut and crushed and olive oil is added, they form the so-called plaster or unguento das Aires (folk ointment of nightshade leaves and olive oil), which is very useful in treating wounds and inflammations.
Places mentioned