headerphoto


Is this a poison or dangerous plant?

by Cherry
(rural La Fontaine, IN USA)

Poison Plant?

Poison Plant?

It has nearly taken over our 20 ft X 50 ft. vegetable garden, but I haven't found it anywhere else on our 3-acre yard or 11 acres of woods. Doesn't look like a vine, but does lay on the ground and appears in groups of many of different sizes/stages (possibly from seeds dropping all the time?). Small, firm berries or seed pods are bright green & turn dark blue/purple-almost black. Once dark, they pop open and contain MANY tiny white seeds.

Comments for
Is this a poison or dangerous plant?

Click here to add your own comments

Deadly Nightshade.
by: Kathy, LaSalle

I agree with Mony that this is a poisonous plant. To my knowledge it is not edible. Deadly Nightshade is what my mother always called it, and I guess Black Nightshade is another name for it. Does it have purple flowers before the berries appear?

Black Nightshade
by: Moni

This plant is the common weed - black nightshade and it's poisonous...please do not eat this without studying what you are doing!

Several web sites say that you can eat the ripe black berries in small quantities(some suggest only cooked never raw), but never the foliage or green berries. The plant and berries contain a toxic alkaloid, solanine.
Animals know not to eat this plant so I would be very cautious about doing so.
Pull this weed to prevent any more seeds and use a good mulch to prevent them from growing.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to Plant Identification