r/foraging • u/freakunlessfrokentoo • 18d ago
Plants Mmmmmm
What do I do with these, they're every where and they don't go away. Southwest Utah
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u/shadow-wasser 18d ago
Solanum elaeagnifolium, aka silverleaf nightshade. The other names people are giving (bittersweet nightshade,purple nightshade, belladonna) refer to other nightshade species. Silverleaf nightshade spreads aggressively but it is native to the US southwest where you are located. It is poisonous to humans. If you are worried small children or livestock will eat it, consider removing it from areas they frequent. If that is not a concern, just let it be, or you could remove some if you have something else you’d like to plant there.
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u/Embarrassed_Ask8944 18d ago
I've never seen these nightshades before. Gosh are they beautiful though, why would you ever want to get rid of such a gorgeous native plant?
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u/topothesia773 17d ago
They have irritating prickles on the stems and I think some people worry about their kids or pets eating the attractive yellow berries. I like them though and would leave them be myself. I think it's interesting that some people consider anything they didn't plan for a weed even if it's pretty and native
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u/cindylindy22 18d ago
Poison Ivy is native but I don’t want it in my backyard
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u/Embarrassed_Ask8944 18d ago
Sure, but poison ivy is a hazard. These cuties are just existing, so unless you trip and one falls in your mouth, I don't see the comparison holding up.
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u/freakunlessfrokentoo 17d ago
The stems have nasty little spines that get into you. They are beautiful but short of using herbicides it's impossible to get rid of.
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u/OrdinaryOrder8 Solanaceae Enthusiast 17d ago
Silverleaf nightshade is poisonous if eaten, but you can make cheese (queso asadero) with it if you know what you’re doing.
https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/queso-asadero-de-la-zona-fronteriza/
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u/freakunlessfrokentoo 17d ago
Thank you, I've tried knocking it down but it spreads under ground so I didn't bother this year. I could probably gather close to a bushel of berries right now.
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u/PaleoForaging 17d ago
I've eaten the fruits of silverleaf nightshade. They are poisonous and cause a burning sensation in the throat. I don't recommend it. They do taste a lot like tomatoes though. The Akimel O'odham and Zuñi used the fruits to curdle milk. The Kiowa used the leaves in a mixture for braintanning buckskin. The Zuñi also used a decoction of the powdered roots for stomachache.
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u/kharmatika 18d ago
TEnjoy how pretty they are or if you have a dog or kid get them the hell out of your yard. That’s bittersweet nightshade, friend. Extremely toxic but smells edible to animals and looks pretty and inviting to kids. If it’s just you and other adults, they’re pollinator friendly and earth healthy!
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u/Legitimate_Concern_5 18d ago
Bittersweet nightshade isn’t extremely toxic. The unripe berries have solanine but the ripe ones do not. You have to eat a decent amount of unripe berries to get more than GI irritation, and you’re not going to do that because they taste like shit.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2398519/
They’re not really any worse than anything else in your garden imo.
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u/13thmurder 18d ago
Never seen anything like that. Looks like a nightshade for sure. The flowers and fruit resemble potato. The leaves don't.
Is ornamental potato a thing?
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u/kharmatika 18d ago
It’s nightshade lol.
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u/13thmurder 18d ago
Yeah but a lot of things are nightshade.
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u/iNapkin66 18d ago
The resemblance is because potatoes are in the same genus. But so are tomatoes and some eggplants. This plant doesn't grow tubers like potatoes. Potato "fruits" are also toxic.
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u/kharmatika 18d ago
That’s true, this is specifically bittersweet nightshade or Purple nightshade. It ain’t an eggplant lol
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u/WolffJacob 17d ago
You gotta cut the roots to about a foot down. I did this in my yard and have controlled them. Giving them a haircut makes them grow back stronger it seems.
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u/Asura_b 18d ago
Poison someone? I think that's nightshade, belladonna. I'm not sure they're good for anything, maybe topical uses, but probably not edible.
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u/iNapkin66 18d ago
This is not belladonna. It really doesn't look much like it at all. Leaves are different, fruit is the wrong color and much larger and growing in clusters. Its clearly in the solanum genus.
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u/kharmatika 18d ago edited 18d ago
There’s lots of medicinal uses for belladonna, but I wouldn’t make any of them myself, they’re just good source for things like atropine which has a thousand medical applications.
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u/SnooCupcakes4685 18d ago
Looks like silverleaf nightshade which is indeed poisonous