What does it look like?
White edged nightshade is a spiney, heavily branched perennial shrub, growing up to five metres, forming dense thickets. It has woody stems and prickly leaves that have a chalky-white underside and edge of the upper side. It has white flowers (sometimes with purplish veins) which bloom in clusters of two to 10 at the edges of branches. It has berries - about four centimetres in diameter - which mature from green to yellow and are on the end of stout prickly stalks.
Why is it a problem?
Thick stands of white-edged nightshade displace native species in natural areas. It stops establishment of native seedlings, which leads to higher light levels and causes it to be a more aggressive weed. In farmland it can create large ungrazable areas. The berries are poisonous to stock and humans, and seeds remain viable in the soil for a long time.
Control methods
White edged nightshade is a pest plant listed for Eradication in Hawkes Bay’s Regional Pest Management Plan. For control measures, please contact our biosecurity team on 06 835 9200.
Related links
Notify Council
If you think you've found this pest, please get in touch with our Biosecurity Team at biosecurity@hbrc.govt.nz or call us on 0800 108 838.
Management Programme
Eradication Programme
An Eradication Programme attempts to reduce a pest's level of infestation to zero, across an infestation zone, over a specified time frame. To be successful; the rate of removal must exceed the rate of increase of the pest, reinvasion from other areas must be prevented, and all potentially reproductive individuals must be targeted. For these reasons, eradication programmes require robust design, efficient implementation, sufficient money, and trained field staff to be successful.
More informationNational Pest Plant Accord
All plants on MPI's National Pest Plant Accord (NPPA) are unwanted organisms under the Biosecurity Act 1993 whose formal or casual trade contributes significantly to their spread.
Plants on the Accord cannot legally be propagated, distributed, or sold in New Zealand. If allowed to spread further, these pest plants could seriously damage our economy and environment.
Unwanted Organism
An unwanted organism is any organism that's capable of causing harm to natural or physical resources (like forests and waterways) or human health. A number of introduced pests in New Zealand are classed as unwanted.
More informationRules
Sections 52 and 53 of the Biosecurity Act (1993)
No person shall knowingly communicate, cause to be communicated, release, or cause to be released, or otherwise spread any pest or unwanted organism, in accordance with Sections 52 and 53 of the Biosecurity Act 1993
More informationTaxonomies
FamilySolanaceae (nightshade)
TypePlants
GroupPerennial
HabitatLand
Management ProgrammeEradication ProgrammeNational Pest Plant AccordUnwanted Organism
