Hello, This is my first post to this forum, but a quick scan of some posts looks like there are many knowledgeable people who can help me figure this plant out. I live in southern Ontario and my girlfriend and I were doing some planting in May. We are in an apartment so this was strictly in pots and planters. At the same time, we re-potted her orchid plant as it was much too big for the little pot it originally came in. This was done on our balcony and so the plants, pots, and soil were only outside for about 20 minutes. The re-potting went alright and the orchid is happily growing new roots and leaves and actually had more flowers bloom than any I've ever seen. What was strange, however, was that within a couple of weeks a new plant started to grow next to the orchid. We didn't plant any other seeds in the pot and as I mentioned the pot and soil must have only been outside for about 20 minutes, so it seemed strange that anything else would grow in there. However, it was growing quickly so we figured we should try to re-pot the new plant separately otherwise it might damage the orchid or vice versa. We were curious to see what the plant would become if we let it grow too. Until now, the closest plant that I've been able to compare it to by searching online was a weed called "gallant soldier" based on the leaves and flowers it was growing. However, after a bunch of the flowers died off, it started growing berries! I knew that the weed was not supposed to grow berries, so this was even more surprising. They started out as little green, circular, smooth clusters, but then they turned black and some of them started to fall off. I of course have not eaten any of them since a lot of wild berries are poisonous, however it would be nice to know if they are edible so that the berries that fall off aren't wasted. The berries have a scent akin to the inside of a kiwi fruit and popping open one of them reveals teeny seeds in a green substance that smells even more like kiwi. The plant has continued to grow, but we have no idea what it is. It has a few branches with green, tear-shaped leaves that have a bit of a saw-toothed edge. The leaves also start out with a red pigmentation on the bottom which seems to eventually turn green on most of the leaves. Oh, and the flowers it grew were tiny and had 5 thin white petals. I suppose this was a long post but I just found it interesting that such a plant would start growing out of nothing, completely unplanned, and actually bear fruit within a couple months. So, I just wanted to share the story. I attached a few photos below which can hopefully help with the identification. Some of them are not that great of quality but hopefully good enough. Thanks in advance everyone, any help would be appreciated!
Solanum. I could not say which one--there are many, some are common weeds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanum
Thanks for the reply Eric! Hmm, judging by the wikipedia article it looks like this plant is mostly poisonous, so it's probably a good idea I didn't take the risk to try one of the berries. I wonder which specific type of solanum it is though, and if there are any other uses for the plant, rather than just getting rid of it. Also is it common enough for it to spring up in our pot like that? Is that something typical? That still seems kind of strange. Thanks again!
Tomato, potato, both from solanum I believe. Common weed around Spokane is Solanum dulcamara called bittersweet. Some say it's poisonous and some say it's not. Tobacco (genus Nicotiana) is also a member of the Solanaceae family as well as many other not so palatable plants.
Shawn, Nightshades are common enough to spring up in the most unexpected places - the berries, as you can see, are very small and it's difficult to see them and also to tell how they got there. In your case, a bird or the wind could both be culprits.
Potato is quite a poisonous plant - never try to eat its berries! This mistake was made by some peasants of 18-19th centuries when they were forced to grow this strange foreign fruit.
Tomato foliage is also poisonous, though not dangerously so. Bittersweet berries are poisonous, but again, not dangerously so; eating one or two would give a stomach upset but no more, you'd have to eat a lot of them to be seriously ill or dead.
Thanks for the replies everyone! I spent a bit of time looking into the plant last night now that I know what it is (a Black Nightshade, Solanum nigrum), and everyone seems right in that the toxicity of this plant is highly contested and there doesn't seem to be much consensus on the topic. A lot of official poison listings claim that it is a poisonous plant to be avoided altogether, and at the same time there are many accounts of people eating the ripe berries raw, making them into pies and jams, and even using them for a spaghetti sauce! This article seems to sufficiently summarize the origin on the ambiguity of the opinions on the plant: http://foragersharvest.com/black-nightshade-2/ To summarize, the stigma on the plant comes from incorrect diagnosis of poisoning by nightshades when the culprit was actually Atropa Belladona, a plant that shares many physical similarities to the black nightshade (and even the more common name of deadly nightshade), and is extremely toxic to humans. The glycoalkaloid poison in the black nightshade is solanine (which, as has already been stated above, is also present in potatoes and tomatoes) where the poison of the same family in Atropa Belladona is atropine. The difference is that even the mature fruit of Atropa Belladona has dangerously high levels of atropine whereas the ripe berries of the black nightshade have much less solanine compared to the immature green berries on the plant. The one area of consensus seems to be that the unripe berries of the black nightshade are still quite poisonous and dangerous but once mature they are relatively harmless, however the stigma surrounding them survives since it has so often been mistaken for Atropa Belladona. What is also noteworthy is that black nightshade is something apparently eaten regularly all over the world (even the foliage) and has been for generations. Interesting. I'm still not quite brave enough to try them myself, and I would not present the information above as an endorsement to try the berries yourself (or whoever may be reading this) unless you REALLY know what you're doing. The risk isn't really worth it. I'm also certainly no expert on the subject, and all the information I found were from sources found on the internet. I guess it's something that could use more reputable research. Another quick word on potatoes though. While they do contain some solanine, it is in much greater concentration in potatoes that have green spots. This happens if they are grown too close to the surface and from exposure to light in general. That is why they must be stored in a dark place even after being purchased (or maybe especially so). The green parts can be cut out, however, to get rid of the most dangerous parts. But green potatoes should be avoided for this reason. So, it seems to be an interesting plant with an interesting history of a somewhat controversial nature. Glad to say I learned something though, especially about the CONFIRMED poisonous Atropa Belladona plant. I'll know to avoid that one for sure if I ever come across it. Also, to lorax, I suppose you're right in that it is something common enough that it can grow just about anywhere and spreads easily. It was just interesting and surprising to see it spring up out of seemingly nowhere.
Andrey, I myself just discovered (as you called them) Potatoe berries. The Skagit Valley is most known for growing Tulips. But a lesser known crop is potatoes of all kinds, red, white & purple etc. For the first time, ever, a client brought in a small cluster of green berry looking fruit. After some research I found these to be called "True Potatoe Seeds". I checked with our local county ext. agent whose family has grown potatoes for three generations, and he confirmend the findings. Potatoes are planted buy cloning the parent plant - cutting up the potatoes with an eye and planting. They can't use the seeds because "True" potatoe seeds do not run true. Half the bees in the county have had their "way" with the flower so heaven only knows what kind of potatoe will be produced. ;)) barb
And not only bees may be to blame. Many potato lineages are in fact hybrids. Propagation by cloning does not change their features. The seeds, however, are result of the genome recombination, therefore they may grow into plants with very different features, most probably loosing their productive and gastronomic advantages.
