Purple berries - what is it?

14 years ago

I'm located just south of Houston. A plant started growing in one of my pots of dirt, presumably from a seed inside bird poop. It looked interesting, so I let it grow. It starts with tiny white flowers, similar to a pumpkin or squash plant, but then after the flowers drop, green pea-size (both green and the size of green peas) "berries" develop, eventually turning dark purple. The mockingbirds love them. I managed to snatch a few before the mockingbirds did, cut one pod open, and it's similar inside to a tomato: soft, fleshy inside with lots of tiny seeds. I'm very curious to know what this is. Below are shots of the entire plant and also a close-up of the leaves and berries. Below that are links to larger pictures.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions ...

Gretchen

Northern Brazoria County

South of Houston

Whole Plant

{{gwi:282091}}

Leaves/Berries

{{gwi:282094}}

Links to larger photos:

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Comments (9)

User
14 years ago
Solanum ptycanthum?

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:282089}}
avid_gardener
14 years ago
"and it's similar inside to a tomato: soft, fleshy inside with lots of tiny seeds"

Don't make the mistake of eating them!
All Solanum species are poisonous except for potatoes and tomatoes.
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for better quality pictures - use the following links... http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/jennarachelwatkins/veins.jpg http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/jennarachelwatkins/leaves2.jpg http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/jennarachelwatkins/leaves.jpg http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/jennarachelwatkins/fullbush2.jpg http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/jennarachelwatkins/fullbush.jpg http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/jennarachelwatkins/branches.jpg http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/jennarachelwatkins/berries3.jpg http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/jennarachelwatkins/berries2.jpg http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd226/jennarachelwatkins/berries.jpg
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Carrie B
14 years ago
Not to mention eggplant and peppers and any number of other edible solanums...

Nevertheless, it's a good idea not to eat anything you can't definitively identify...
gardenguru1950
14 years ago
Yours is probably NOT edible but there are lots of edible Solanum besides potato and tomato (which is not a Solanum):

Solanum melongena - eggplant
S. muricatum - pepino
S. quitoense - lulo
S. sessiliflorum - cocona
S. aviculare - kangaroo apple
S. melanocerasum - garden huckelberry (barely edible!)

But unless you know EXACTLY what you have, do NOT eat it.

Joe
gardenguru1950
14 years ago
carrieb:

Did you and I just say the EXACT same thing???!!

Joe
gc77584
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for all the responses. I did more Googling and looking at pictures, and I believe you're all right, this is probably a West Indian Nightshade, based on the glossiness of the purple berries.

Be assured that I have no intention of eating any part of this plant (nor do I have any children who might be tempted to eat the berries AND my yard is fenced and locked so no one else can get in), but the mockingbirds love the berries and evidently aren't harmed by them, so I'd like to see if I can get at least a couple of plants going for the birds next year. When doing wildlife gardening, occasionally a noxious plant or weed turns out to be a real attraction for the birds or butterflies.

Several sites mentioned variations in toxicity and most agreed that a considerable amount would have to be ingested in order to cause harm, not that I have any plans to test that!

Thank you all again; it's been close to keeping me up at night wondering what that plant was!

Gretchen
Carrie B
14 years ago
Joe - I believe we did say the exact same thing!

You wrote above that tomato (or was it potato?) is not a Solanaceae? Have classifications changed?

Potato - Solanum tuberosum

Tomato - Solanum lycopersicum
gardenguru1950
14 years ago
carrieb:

I did not say "tomato was not Solanaceae (family)".

I said tomato was not Solanum (genus).

As far as I know, tomato is Lycopersicon lycopersicum or Lycopersicon x esculentum.

I don't think tomato has been put into the genus Solanum in a long time and I haven't heard of a switch back to it.

Joe
nonmember_gw
14 years ago
Tomatoes have traditionally been separated from Solanum because of a difference in the way the anthers open, but phylogenetically they are part of the same subgroup of the genus Solanum as the potato.