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Anybody know what this is?
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Posted by
lawmar 4 (
My Page) on
Mon, Sep 17, 12 at 22:17
| Hi. This is growing in my garden and my front yard. It has little tiny white flowers on it and then it gets these berries. They are not sweet, they taste like rhubarb. This is nothing that I planted in there. Can anyone tell me what this is? Thank you!! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Anybody know what this is?
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| Looks like American black nightshade (Solanum americanum). The berries (especially when green) can contain poisonous glycoalkaloids. Why would you taste an unknown berry that could be poisonous? |
RE: Anybody know what this is?
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| I am always taken aback when someone asks for the identity of something they've already sampled. Crazy. |
RE: Anybody know what this is?
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| I teach 4th graders about wild foods and medicines each year at a "Pioneer Day" event at my local school system. It is lots of fun and the kids are so amazed by stuff that used to be pretty common knowledge. I always stress safety and tell the kids not to eat anything wild that their parents haven't told them that is safe and they can eat it. I see so many people taste unknowns here that I wonder if it is safe to tell kids to trust their parents' judgement?? ;) FataMorgana |
RE: Anybody know what this is?
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| I totally agree with not eating things you're not familiar with but to be honest...there's nothing really out there in the plant world that will make you sick if you just taste it on your tongue and spit it out, especially when it comes to fruits. If you read the mushroom hunting literature, that is actually a fairly standard practice to narrow down species of unknown mushrooms. Again, I wouldn't condone it, especially with kids or the inexperienced, but just sayin'... |
RE: Anybody know what this is?
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| Tasting an unknown berry cannot give you any clue as to what it is or if it is safe to eat, so why do it? One of the most poisonous berries in the world, White Baneberry, tastes sweet. |
RE: Anybody know what this is?
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| Not everyone has the same tolerances or sensitivities. Tasting a toxic botanical if you are especially sensitive could be really bad news. And what happens when someone runs across really deadly stuff like Conium or Aconite? They'll be saying the leaves "taste like spinach...*gack*...*ack*...[thud]" Yikes. ;^) Unless you were starving and needed to forage to stay alive, I can't see why anyone would take the risk. It's just not worth it. I just want people to be smart and safe but the sad part is that this was the second post in as many days where someone was tasting an unknown fruit. FataMorgana |
RE: Anybody know what this is?
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| I agree ; ) I just read an article about someone who ate poison hemlock from their garden earlier this summer, even though they knew they didn't plant anything like it. They survived, but talk about worst case scenario... |
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