Solanum nigrum (c) Harald Hubich
By Harald Hubich (photo taken by Harald Hubich) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons
Solanaceae – The Nightshade Family.
Solanaceae – The Nightshade Family.
Solanum nigrum (c) Harald Hubich
By Harald Hubich (photo taken by Harald Hubich) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons
I found this site while trying to identify a plant that came up in a container this summer. I had saved some potato seed last year and thought that was what it was. It is definitely a nightshade. I am trying to grow it on a bit as it looks quite stunted and insect damaged but the berries are identical to this picture and about pea sized.
I will try to send a picture if you are interested and plan to save some seed and replant next year.
I would like to see a picture, sounds interesting.
My family has grown this type for at least 4 generations here in the U.S. It is edible, though due to its deadly cousin (vining nightshade), I do not grow it where I live. I have seed stock that I hope to grow on the other side of the state, this summer (2015).
Robert – thanks for your comments but I feel I must add a warning to readers here that toxicity in Solanum generally can be variable depending on growing conditions and on the particular genotype of the individual plant. It is not safe to eat all individuals of Solanum nigrum all of the time as some plants and some plant parts can contain toxic levels of alkaloids. There’s a brief commentary on the Plants For A Future web site about this http://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Solanum+nigrum. The paper by Eltayeb et al 1997 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031942297003233 reports Solasodine at varying concentrations in all parts of Solanum nigrum with the highest concentrations in your leaves and fruits.