The lavender flowers and red berries of the Brazilian nightshade (Solanum seaforthianum) that is taking hold in the Dawn Road Reserve.

Brazilian nightshade

One of the newer, yet very invasive, weeds encountered in the Dawn Road Reserve has been Brazilian nightshade (Solanum seaforthianum), a deceptively pretty creeper with lavender florets and berries that are green when immature and bright red when ripe. A native of Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and tropical South America, the Brazilian nightshade has become a weed…