Scary Black Nightshade weed!

Well, not scary to me.

A few weeks back I noticed a "weed" popping up in the pot in which I was growing my chickpeas. I decided to let it mature to see what it was. Well, after getting used to ignoring it (and its color blended in with the chickpea plants) I realized it was flowering and had been doing so such that it also had young green berries/fruits. So, I took some pictures and set about identifying it.


What is a weed? Well, you could say there really is no such thing. One person's weed is another person's valued plant. So, it is only a matter of being wanted.


Luckily, I had been very intrigued by potatoes and tomatoes being related to each other (and peppers and tobacco and eggplant...and the Black Nightshades). I had also found out that there were supposedly edible variants of this feared witch's plant bred decades ago to be edible due to lower levels of Solanine (the same poison in green tomato fruit, tomato leaves, potato leaves and green tubers, and all other greens and unripe fruits of plants in the "Nightshade family"). The edible berry variations of this supposed deadly are called Garden Huckleberry (not really a Huckleberry), Wonderberry, Sunberry, Jaltomato and Chichiquelite Huckleberry (again, not really a Huckleberry). Nobody truly knows which of these are different names for the same variation and which ones are truly different variations from each other.

I began to smell a rat here. I suspect those supposed edible berry variations of a supposed otherwise deadly toxic berry plant are not really that special. I suspect ALL OR MOST nightshade plant berries are edible when RIPE.

So, I have kept going back to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and thinking about getting one or two or more varieties that are supposedly edible, to give them a try. But since I have a volunteer of some sort of Black Nightshade, I will now begin my investigation with it. I still have to wait for ripe berries to see what color and how large they are and then try tasting it and waiting for 24 hours to see if I get a cramped stomach or drop dead. :)

Mine is one of these species or varieties (there is still disagreement whether each of these is truly a different species and which may be hybrids as well): Solanum americanum (American Black Nightshade), Solanum ptycanthum (Eastern Black Nightshade), Solanum nigrum (Black Nightshade), Solanum retroflexum, Solanum scabrum or even some other species or variety.