Etymology: Nicandra: after Nicander, poet of Colophon, Asia Minor, who wrote on the subject of plants around 100 BC
Plants: erect, annual, 4"-50" tall, smooth forb
Leaves: long stalked, ovate, roughly-toothed
Flowers: blue, 5-parted, 3/4" wide, bell-shaped, stalked, nodding; solitary from the leaf axils; blooms July-Sept.
Fruits: covered, dry berry
Habitat: roadsides, disturbed areas
Conservation Status: Introduced - adventive
Plants: erect, annual, 4"-50" tall, smooth forb
Leaves: long stalked, ovate, roughly-toothed
Flowers: blue, 5-parted, 3/4" wide, bell-shaped, stalked, nodding; solitary from the leaf axils; blooms July-Sept.
Fruits: covered, dry berry
Habitat: roadsides, disturbed areas
Conservation Status: Introduced - adventive
Apple-of-Peru, shoo-fly plant. Native of Peru, occasionally cultivated for its attractive flowers and curious fruits and rarely escaped as a waif near dwellings and in gardens, fields, and other disturbed places. Our half-dozen collections are almost all from 1950 or before, the earliest ones made (without date) in Milwaukee and ca. 1860 in Racine.
USDA Plants Database: Federal Distribution and detailed information including photos USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS): Images of seeds, fruits, embryos, etc. Illinois Wildflowers: Wonderful photographs; detailed descriptions; color and leaf arrangement key Southwest School of Botanical Medicine: Britton & Brown Illustrated Flora - 2nd Edition (1913) "An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada"
Kurt Stüber
Christopher Noll
Robert W. Freckmann
