Help!...Is this Deadly Nightshade?

[janeyo]

My Aunt who came to the party yesterday was looking at the bit of garden with my son's flowers and ornaments etc... and tells me I have deadly nightshade growing in his patch!

I have googled it and can't find conclusive pics to say it is or isn't... any thoughts?

It's a smallish plant at the mo, looks a little like a nettle with white flowers and green berries. There is lots of it in his patch. A pic is attached



If it is how do I get rid? Will obviously have to move his 'garden' to a new place next year.

Very worried about this!

Thanks janeyo

[Mrs Dobby]

Hi Janeyo,

It doesnt look like the Belladonna we grew a few years back, the flowers were a dusky dark purpl, shaped like a bell, and there was a lot more foliage, but I'm afraid I can't be certain, we lost ours a year or so back, it just withered and died off, and nothing else grows there now! (Almost as though it had been poisoned by someone - that patch of the garden doesnt grow anything anymore!)

Hope someone else can help identify it!

[Cloud]

Looks like it could be check thisAtropa belladonna - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[janeyo]

Hi thanks mrs D and Cloud. I still can't find any concrete evidence - there are different types. I have seen pics that look like mine and others that really don't.

I don't want to go and weedkill a whole great patch of ground for no good reason - but on the other hand I don't want any of my sons friends or indeed my son to be poisoned. We encourage him to pick stuff from the veggie patch and he know to ask first etc. But I also have veggies in the flower garden and it's an inthinkable thought should he decide to try a green berry when my back is turned.

By the time I have sent a sample off to make certain it could have already been eaten!

Maybe I should cover the whole patch with netting or something in the meantime?

janeyo

[Two_Sheds]

Yes, it certainly looks like Deadly Nightshade. If those little green berries turn black, you can be sure.

[seasprout]

I thought it was as well.

Its definitely solonaceae, which is nightshade family, and toxic.

Dig it up, it will have fleshy roots like bindweed.

[Hilary B]

It looked to me more like WOODY Nightshade, except that woody nightshade usually has mauve flowers. If potatoes 'go wild' and produce fruit, it is very similar (with white flowers), and also toxic. Woody nightshade and 'potato apples' are somewhat toxic, but not in the same league as belladonna. Get rid of it anyway, but don't panic. It would take a number of berries (and I believe they are bitter) to do worse than cause a nasty tummy upset. I would suggest TELLING him that this one is defintely not fit to eat, and will make him feel ill, and then get him to help find all of them to treat with a 'touch' weedkiller. You'd be surprised how well children can manage that sort of thing.

[Flummery]

The flower is MUCH more like woody than deadly nightshade. Woody nightshade has a purple flower with a yellow anther cone and the berries are red when ripe. I suspect it's black nightshade which has a white flower and black berry when ripe. In some parts of the country they are both referred to as deadly nightshade but this is a different plant. These two will make you feel a bit ill but deadly nightshade is a serious toxin. It's botanicaly a different kettle of fish - known commonly as belladonna. However, in all cases you shouldn't eat a berry of a wild solanum (unless it's a tomato near the sewage works!)

Edit - appartently it's a common greenhouse weed in commercial glass houses in the south of England.

[John Stocker]

I have a similar problem . Early in the season I found some plantlets growing in a large pot that had been outside last year . They looked a bit like either chilli or some type of pepper plant . I decided to to grow them on in 3inch pots then transferred them to 2 litre pots . They are in the greenhouse & have produced lots of flowers which are white with a yellow centre . The resulting fruits are black in clusters of about six about the size of a blackcurrant . From the description on this forum I think I am growing a form of nightshade . Any further advice appreciated . sounds like a compost job to me !

[veggiechicken]

Hi John and welcome!!
A photo of the plant would help

[Vince G]

Yup it's defo a nightshade of some sort. Had quite a bit of it at the lottie this year. Prefer not to compost it in case the seeds remain vialble so chuck it in the black bin then wash your hands well. Just keep an eye on the weeds that come up afterwards and just pull up and bin as necessary.

[zazen999]

Woody nightshade fruits are red, and deadly nightshade fruits are black so I'd suggest yes.

Try googling 'deadly nightshade' and comparing the pics to your plant, if it looks exactly the same, then you probably have it. If not, then it's something else. Other search engines are available.

[Naga]

I found a video here for you Belladonna - Nasty stuff! - YouTube

Personally I would not do what she is doing and handle it without gloves, I believe the roots are the most toxic part.

[Two_Sheds]

lots of flowers which are white with a yellow centre . The ...fruits are black in clusters ...about the size of a blackcurrant .

You could look on g00gle images, but I think you have black (common) nightshade (Solanum nigrum) rather than deadly nightshade (atropa belladonna).
The flowers are different colours, and the fruit is held on the plant in a different way. Do some good proper research, don't just rely on what I've put here.

I don't suggest you try eating it, but the articles below are interesting:

Black Nightshade (Solanum nigrum) is Edible and Delicious | Root Simple

Black Nightshade « Forager's Harvest

[mothhawk]

Another vote for black nightshade, which is a common weed. Deadly nightshade is not all that common, and looks very different. For a start, it has single flowers and single berries, not bunches, it's a tall plant, up to five feet, and the flowers, as Mrs Dobby says, are bell shaped, and a dusky purple, not like a potato flower at all. None the less it is still poisonous, (and still a weed). But then, many garden plants are poisonous, so hopefully you have taught your son to put nothing in his mouth without checking with you first.

deadly nightshade



black nightshade



woody nightshade