Is the Mrs in Peril?
DAN WILSON
Posts: 111
in Plants
Hi all, recently found this in another of my raised beds, nestled in between some beetroot I have not had time to remove. I remember my father showing me deadly nightshade in the garden and can't for the life of me remember full what it looked like. Is this a belladonna, or does my wife have nothing to worry about?
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I don't think your wife has anything to worry about. It looks as if there might have been a potato left in the ground from another crop. The stem, flowers and fruit all look like what potatoes produce if they are not harvested. They belong to the same family as tomatoes and deadly nightshade which is why you can see similarities.
I should have added do not eat any of the fruit of the potato
I think it's woody nightshade, Solanum dulcamara. A member of the potato family and definitely poisonous. The berries will turn red from green..
I'll go with Woody Nightshade - growth's not right for potato - but as has been said, nightshades are part of the Solanum family, as of course are lots of other plants that we grow in our gardens and greenhouses, e.g. potatoes tomatoes and aubergines.
Although the fruits of the nightshade are poisonous to us and other mammals, they're often eaten by birds who are probably responsible for spreading the plants as the seeds pass through them.
Perfect thanks all
Unlikely to be Deadly Nightshade - it is rare and confined to chalky soil. Woody Nightshade seem about right. Definitely not potato. A nasty stomach ache is in store if you give it to the Missus, but it won't kill her!