nightshade noun. ['nʌɪtʃeɪd]
[Old English nihtsćada corresp. to Middle Low German, Middle Dutch nachtschade, Old High German nahtscato (German Nachtschatten), app. formed as NIGHT noun + SHADE noun, prob. with allus. to the poisonous or narcotic properties of the berries.]
Any of various poisonous plants of the genus Solanum (family Solanaceae); esp. (more fully black nightshade) S. nigrum, a garden weed with white flowers and black berries, and (more fully woody nightshade) S. dulcamara, a scrambling plant of hedges with purple flowers and bright red berries. Also (in full deadly nightshade), the related and even more poisonous plant Atropa belladonna, with drooping lurid purple flowers and black cherry-like fruit.
Phrases: enchanter's nightshade [alluding to the witch Circe, source of the genus name] any of several woodland plants of the genus Circaea, of the willowherb family, having small white flowers and fruit with hooked bristles. Malabar nightshade a tropical plant of the goosefoot family, Basella alba, grown in the Indian subcontinent as a pot-herb.

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