Solanum rostratum (Buffalo Bur Nightshade)
| Also known as: | Kansas Thistle |
|---|---|
| Genus: | Solanum |
| Family: | Solanaceae (Potato) |
| Life cycle: | annual |
| Origin: | native |
| Status: |
|
| Habitat: | sun; dry, along roads, waste areas |
| Bloom season: | June - September |
| Plant height: | 1 to 3 feet |
| Wetland Indicator Status: | none |
| MN county distribution (click map to enlarge): |  |
| National distribution (click map to enlarge): |  |
Pick an image for a larger view. See the glossary for icon descriptions.
Detailed Information
Flower: 
![[photo of flowers]](/udata/r9ndp23q/yellow/buffalo-bur-nightshade_0830_125130.jpg)
Flowers are in a raceme that elongates up to 6 inches, blooming from the bottom up. Individual flowers are about 1 inch across with 5 bright yellow fused petals with crinkled or wavy edges. There are 5 tubular stamens and a long curved style in the center. The calyx is hairy and/or spiny with linear lobes. One plant has a few to several racemes on its many branches.
Leaves and stem:
![[photo of leaves]](/udata/r9ndp23q/yellow/buffalo-bur-nightshade_0830_125143.jpg)
Leaves are up to 6 inches long and 5 inches wide, with irregular and deep rounded lobes. There are long, sharply pointed, yellow prickles along the major veins on both sides of the leaf, and on the leaf stalk. Edges are toothless, surfaces are hairy.
![[photo of stem]](/udata/r9ndp23q/yellow/buffalo-bur-nightshade_0830_125845.jpg)
Stems are heavily branched and covered in sharp yellow prickles that are typically purplish at the base.
Fruit:
![[photo of fruit]](/udata/r9ndp23q/yellow/buffalo-bur-nightshade_0830_125137.jpg)
Fruit is a many-seeded berry encased in a spiny covering,
Notes:
This is one mean plant—every part of it is covered in very sharp, spiny prickles. It's interesting to look at, but touch at your own risk! There are different opinions of where this plant originates, but the consensus seems to be it is native to the U.S., but not necessarily the Upper Midwest. Still, the MN DNR lists it as native, so we do, too. It was once considered a county-level noxious weed, but Round-up Ready crops took care of that.
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More photos
Buffalo Bur Nightshade plant
Buffalo Bur Nightshade plant
Buffalo Bur Nightshade plant
prickles on a leaf
Buffalo Bur Nightshade plant
Buffalo Bur Nightshade plant
Buffalo Bur Nightshade plant
prickles on a leafPhotos by K. Chayka taken at a construction site in Ramsey County. Other photos courtesy Peter M. Dziuk.
Comments
Have you seen this plant in Minnesota, or have any other comments about it?
on: 2009-07-16 19:25:38
I removed a great deal of rock that had been under the deck for years. Before I've figured out my plan for the space and what would grow best, two of these have appeared on their own and are quite pretty. Mine have only grown to about 6" tall thus far, but they have the yellow flowers and the thorns all over. I had never seen them before, so found this site in trying to identify what they were.
on: 2009-07-25 11:36:44
I found a single Buffalo Bur Nightshade plant growing under my birdfeeder. Thanks to your website I was able to identify it.
on: 2011-06-28 15:31:15
I have rock surrounding my home and one of these has managed to grow next to my front steps sprouting out from the rock. It's about 16 inches. I was trying to identify it and found this website. Thanks
on: 2012-08-08 10:40:04
We had one of these growing just off the edge of our patio. I kept it around for a while to see what it would grow into. Then googled it and seen it's not a great plant to have around. I think it came home with my hubby from working in ND.
on: 2013-08-18 20:24:26
This plant appeared and flowered after we trimmed out dead cranberries. I'm glad there's only one! I really appreciate having a website like yours for help with identifying wildflowers.
on: 2014-08-04 15:23:52
I found it growing in disturbed soil under the bird feeder at the Whitewater WMA. Waited for the bloom now I will kill it.
on: 2016-07-15 16:37:55
looked in several books...no luck. thanks for having this on your website. One has been growing under my bird feeder and next to a Potentilla bush. I think it is pretty but don't like the prickles. Will keep it for a while longer. Love your site. Thanks again.
on: 2017-07-09 13:47:25
We have lived here 25 years and it just appeared. Not sure if we should keep it or not.
on: 2017-07-21 20:06:51
Showed up in the rocks surrounding our water feature. I've never seen it before now. Pretty and interesting to look at but I guess I'll have to find some Kevlar gloves to pull this bad boy before it spreads seed!
on: 2018-05-10 23:54:17
This plant just appeared in my garden. Was glad to find out what it was have no idea where it came from
on: 2018-07-13 11:07:26
Gardener, Ann L., in Northome, MN, reported to our UM Extension Office of unusual plant she had never seen before in her flower bed (in town). Looked like maybe a volunteer tomato when it first sprouted. Then she spotted all the prickles and nasty-looking spikes on the leaves once the yellow flowers appeared. She pulled it so it wouldn't spread.
on: 2018-07-15 20:31:51
I discovered one of these plants growing under my bird feeder. I noticed several other people found them under bird feeders as well. So I am wondering if possibly bird seed may have these mixed in occasionally. I live near Crosby Minnesota.
on: 2018-08-02 13:41:53
I pulled out a deck that had been there for 20+ years and a half dozen have appeared there as a surprise. They look nasty even when small. Thanks for helping me confirm that I do not want to keep them.
on: 2018-08-20 20:14:00
Found some of the burrs stuck to my dog at the airport dog park, which consequently got stuck in myself. Nasty little things when they poke into you. Definitely sting and burn.
on: 2019-02-09 14:44:38
We have these in our agricultural dry lot in Fillmore County. We've been pulling (ouch!) them and burning them in a concrete water tank that is no longer used.
on: 2019-07-09 22:05:07
Found 1 in my garden. I did not recognize it so I let it grow, until it was big enough to identify. Mean looking plant, I hope not to see again!
on: 2020-06-25 18:27:51
Found in my garden June 2020. A first for me. When it first came up, I thought it might have been a watermelon because of the leaf shape. Nope!
on: 2020-06-30 16:50:49
One of these very distinctive plants is growing underneath a bird feeding area at the new house I moved into three weeks ago. Add me to the “it must’ve come in on birdseed” group! Previous owners had the feeder suspended from the cable where my feeder now hangs.
on: 2020-07-13 09:43:32
This plant popped up in a flower bed----it has since been removed. Nasty thing!
on: 2020-07-14 22:27:49
I just discovered this weed in my muskmelon patch which was an old cow pasture that hadn't been plowed up for 20 years until this spring. I must have pulled 50 - 75 today & will finish tomorrow, The thorns will penetrate right through my leather gloves if I'm not careful while pulling them. They're nasty & I want to exterminate them for good.
on: 2020-07-25 00:15:56
Have 2 of these in my garden. We put in dirt from a 20 year old manure pile to help buildup the garden. Kanabec county. I haven't removed them yet because I wasn't sure what they were.
on: 2020-08-08 16:05:29
Had a small section of pasture that the sheep overgrazed (it's a paddock junction); had a few of these pop up last month and the sheep completely left them alone. Appreciate the info as I wasn't sure how concerned I needed to be about them.
on: 2020-09-03 12:30:13
I am yet another to have discovered this under a bird feeder, in mostly clay type soil.
on: 2022-05-17 17:48:41
Found one of these growing on our property outside of Glenwood last year. Personally, I think it is quite a beautiful plant and it is native, after all. A weedy native however, and one I certainly pulled and disposed of after it flowered. I like bizarre and weird plants, though. I am actually fascinated by the Solanaceae species and have been experimenting with a few of them, both native and exotic, via seed I have collected in my travels or bought from a seed source. Hybrids anyone? Just kidding! Some Solanum's can be very weedy and others not so much. It is definitely a very interesting family of plants that includes Tomato's, Potato's, Peruvian Golden Berries, Goji Berries, Tree Tomato's and a host of others that Human's use for food. Many have other uses as well. A very useful group of plants. This is such a great site, btw. It is also very useful! Thank you so much for the info and Happy Growing to all.
on: 2023-06-02 21:42:36
A single plant appeared in the debris under one of my bird feeders a few years ago. It may have been from a seed in a bag of black oil sunflower seeds.
on: 2023-06-10 15:35:34
It sprouted up next to my brick planter by my front steps. At first it looked like watermelon leaves but then noticed the yellow flowers and prickley stems. This was the only site that it could be identified. Thank You. Birds often perch on the planter, so assume seed was spread by them.
on: 2023-06-23 01:36:42
Two of these well-armed plants showed up on a pile of gravel I'd scraped up off my driveway. I thought they looked like tomato relatives, only meaner. Yikes.
on: 2023-07-11 17:19:30
Appeared in my back yard in the shade. Have not seen it before. Love my native plants but may need to relocate this one out of my yard because those seeds look nasty for my dog to step on.
on: 2023-07-12 14:24:55
Found one of these today under an area where we too put out bird seed in a tray. Looks like this is a common theme. I've seen this plant listed as "native" and as a "noxious weed"... Given that we have a dog and wildlife that comes around our yard, looks like we will be removing it ... After we get some Kevlar gloves. 😏