The Shoofly Plant is an annual, summer-blooming, flowering plant native to Peru in the night-shade family. The plant matures at 2 to 5 feet high with some branching. The individual blue flowers live for one day, but the plant produces a succession of flowers from summer to early autumn. The flowers develop on short stalks from the axils of the upper leaves. The genus is named for the Greek scientist, Nycander, who wrote treatises on plants more than 2000 years ago. The Shoofly Plant prefers full or partial sun, moist to mesic conditions, and a loamy fertile soil. Most growth occurs during the late spring and summer and the eventual size of a plant varies, depending on soil fertility and availability of moisture. Like other members of the Nightshade family, the foliage is toxic to mammalian herbivores and not often consumed. In the southern states, the juices from the foliage and roots of this plant were mixed with milk in a dish, which was set out to attract flies. When the flies fed from this concoction, they died. This is the source of the common name, Shoofly Plant. This species belongs to the nightshade family that contains many species of poisonous plants so caution is advised. It has escaped cultivation and naturalized in large areas of the US. It prefers disturbed areas and usually doesn't persist in the wild. The root system consists of a taproot and the plant spreads by reseeding itself. Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No known diseases or insect pests.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
High Organic Matter; Loam (Silt)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist
Available space
Less than 12 inches
NC region
Mountains; Piedmont
Growth rate
Medium
Maintenance
Medium
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Erect; Multi-stemmed
Texture
Medium
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf shape
Cordate; Ovate
Leaf margin
Dentate; Lobed; Undulate
Leaf size
> 6 inches long, 3-6 inches wide
Hairs present
Yes
Leaf detail
The alternate leaves are up to 8 inches long and 4 inches across (excluding the petioles). They are ovate-cordate and sparsely pubescent. The margins are shallowly lobed, bluntly dentate, or undulate. The petiole of each leaf is long and slender, tilting at an upward angle.
Flower color
Blue; White
Flower value
Showy
Flower form
Head
Flower shape
Bell
Flower size
1-3 inches
Flower detail
Flowers axillary, nodding, short bell-shaped, pale blue with a white center. These flowers are sometimes erect and consist of a spreading corolla that is light blue or lavender with 5 shallow lobes. The throat of the corolla is white with 5 stamens with light yellow anthers. These flowers are about 1–1½ inches across diurnal, and short-lived.
Bloom time
Summer
Fruit color
Brown/Copper
Fruit type
Berry
Fruit size
< 1 inch long, < 1 inch wide
Fruit detail
The fruit is about ½ inch across and divided into 3 to 5 cells. It has a dry texture and is enclosed by an enlarged, papery calyx that is full of seeds.
Stem detail
The stems are angular and largely hairless.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Unknown
Origin
Peru to North Western Argentina
Distribution
Introduced worldwide.
Wildlife value
The nectar and pollen of the flowers attract various kinds of bees.
Attracts
Bees; Pollinators
Food & Medicine
Harvest time
Fall
Fruit type
Berry
Uses (ethnobotany)
Used to treat unspecified medicinal disorders, as a poison and a medicine.