Wonderberries

[wildseed57]

After reading the different post about the sun berry and the question was brought up about it possibly crossing I have not given that much thought, but I do know that my plants in the solanum family that are close enough will cross pollinate. I have seen some poisonous Nightshades growing some distance from me that reminded me of my huckleberry, so now I wonder if its safe keeping seeds or just letting them self seed and come back each year, if that might lead to a possible case of self poisoning. I also have seen several poisonous nightshades or wild Physalis that look like edible ground cherries which I happen to like also. I think from now on I will just use seeds that I know are ok just to be on the safe side.
George W.

[spacecase0]

I asked that question to someone because I was growing the belladonna right next to the wonderberry,
and they said it was fine,
I have been saving seeds for a few years now will no issues (as I am still living) so I would say that they are likely far away enough in type not to cross easy, because they sure are not crossing for me.

[wildseed57]

I think Belladonna is a or related to the Datura species and may not be related closely enough to it, I might be wrong, but I wonder about ones like bittersweet nightshade and others like it. Where I'm at there are lots of different types of wild poisonous solanums all of which can make you very sick or worse. Since I'm not a expert on solanums I would rather be wrong by not trusting them, than taking the chance and make myself sick. I even get a bit nervous eating berries from Solanum sisymbriifolium which has a berry that taste like a cross between a sour cherry and a tomato which is nice, but it is so thorny that unless you ware gloves you will get stuck bad and it really looks like something that is poisonous, rather than something safe.
George W.

[keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.)]

Yea! my Sunberries came back this year (in the same spot too!). But this year i have two plants instead of one. I planted considerably less corn this year, so they also have gotten more sunlight, and they are about as tall as others have reported that they grow (2ft). You really need to let them ripen though, because they do seem to have an undesirable taste before full ripeness. I collected some berries to save for seeds. No sign of that poisonous hairy nightshade this year (or whatever it was) which i'm glad, but i kinda feel bad that i didn't save seeds in a separate pack just because it was so evil (thats what a good scientist would have done i guess).

I just finished reading an interesting PDF about the origins of the Sunberry. Basically the conclusion is that while Mr. Burbank did attempt to cross two species of S. nigrum, the chromosomes would have produced a pentaploid (likely sterile) , and that he actually also had one of the names wrong. The conclusion was that the author thinks that he actually was very messy with his crosses, and probably accidentally grew seed from a native plant of Africa that he assumed was one of his hybrids. The Wonderberries i guess are actually tetraploid.

www.bulbnrose.org/Heredity/Wonderberry.pdf

I still would like to someday try to cross a sunberry with a tomato (even if a cross would be unlikely). But, i think i'd need a tetraploid tomato. Anyone know of any?

After reading the different post about the sun berry and the question was brought up about it possibly crossing I have not given that much thought, but I do know that my plants in the solanum family that are close enough will cross pollinate.

I'm not sure, but based on what i read in that PDF above, it sounded like all the other nightshades (that could be confused with wonderberries) are most likely Hexaploid.

[atimberline]

Just reading down the thread.... jUST A FEW COMMENTS TO THE FEARS. If your nose lacks good sense, and /or your taste buds, you can fear eating something poisonous in the nightshade group but as a rule you can know you are getting something hard on your health when you taste and smell something harsh, especially bitter. I've tasted all the poisonous ones and believe me,if you can't taste the nasty and spit it out then you have no business adventuring into this arena. Figure it out or go do something that won't make you and others sick.

Also. Most of the wild black fruited nightshades are relatively edible when fully ripe. As to crossing them, most of them will cross if given the right environment ...and sterility is downplayed/overcome by the same. There is tremendous potential in this group for fruity fruits and machine harvest. ...I had a couple acres wasted on this stuff ...you'll get Tiny Tim size plants and 8foot colomn types to, and everything from pinhead to cherry size fruits ...some would overwinter as crowns for multiple years taking to -5F. ...tons of traits to sort thru. ...
Tim Peters

[Rutos]

Never assume a wild nightshade berry is a wonderberry, whether or not it's edible. Odds are, it's not (and if it is a wonderberry, it's probably not wild).

Wonderberries are different than chichiquelite. I've grown both side-by-side, along with an orange-fruited black nightshade. While the plants of all three look quite similar, wonderberries are a lot more vigorous in my climate, the fruits detach from the calyces a lot more easily, and wonderberries don't taste toxic to me (while the other two do, much as overripe stressed eggplant, even though they're not supposed to be toxic). Wonderberries had bigger fruit, too. Along the lines of what keen101 said, wonderberries aren't normally as shiny as some berries (including chichiquelite). The other nightshades were stunted in the same growing conditions where I had the wonderberries, but the wonderberries were growing fine.

I've grown wonderberries every year since 2017, and I'm growing a number of plants, this year.

You might find this link interesting about wonderberries:
bulbnrose.x10.mx/Heredity/HeiserWonderberry/HeiserWonderberry.html

Some key points are these:
- The author, after considerable research, thinks wonderberries are the same species as gsoba/msoba (Solanum retroflexum).
- Wonderberries are tetraploids! That's really good to know, from a plant-breeder's and a seed-saver's perspective. I had to read pretty far into the article to find out, though (but I've seen the same in another source, and was wanting to see a second source here).
- We don't know if wonderberries came from msoba/gsoba, if msoba/gsoba came from wonderberries, or if they're similar plants from the same kind of cross that happened in different parts of the world (or not); the author didn't consider that last possibility, but it's a possibility. And the author didn't have live wonderberries to help in the identification (so, it's maybe possible that they're not Solanum retroflexum).
- The picture of Solanum retroflexum (gsoba/msoba) has very sparse leaf cover compared to my wonderberries, and the leaves look more narrow than my wonderberries.

I don't think wonderberries are insipid. Mild, yes, but insipid, no.

IMO, these are the best-uses for them that I've discovered:
- Baked on pizza with sliced tomatoes
- Baked with tomatoes in frittatas
- Fresh berries with cooked ham
- Blended with tomatoes in tomato sauce (expect a subtle, but pleasant difference; you might need to use more wonderberries than you would whole on pizza)
- Fresh, by themselves (not everyone would agree, but they're abundant, refreshing, easy-to-grow, and easy to pick)
- In salad for ornamental/nutritional purposes (don't expect it to change the flavor).
- In burr gherkin banana wonderberry smoothies. They're probably great in some other kinds of smoothies, but as I'm not one to make a lot of smoothies, that's all I've discovered.
- Mixed with other berries in whatever you use other berries for.

I would describe the flavor as a mix between sour watermelon, blackberries, bilberries, and oranges (if you ignore the color and close your eyes, they actually taste a lot like oranges, with about the same potency per amount of flesh--they're not like super concentrated oranges), but the overall taste is mild, sweet, and refreshing. Some people think they taste like tomatoes (and maybe I can see a hint of that; they do go well with tomatoes). Way too many people expect them to taste like blueberries, and are disappointed when they don't taste like them, even when I warn them right beforehand (and while they do have subtle hints of a blueberry-like taste, they're not blueberries). If you let them ripen extra long, they do taste a bit more like blueberries and bilberries than if you pick them right after they color.

The flavor they add to pizza when paired with baked tomato slices is an extra zest (not an overpowering one). It's not really a fruity flavor. It's a nice semi-subtle zest. You might not realize the flavor is coming from the wonderberries, if you notice the flavor. You might think it comes from the meat, oil, tomatoes, or seasonings.

They might be good in muffins, pancakes, or waffles, but I've never tried it.

Here's what I don't think you should use them for (these are things you might be naturally inclined to make with them):
- Pure wonderberry pies
- Pure wonderberry james/preserves/jellies
- Pure wonderberry desserts

You can freeze them, but I wouldn't recommend it for more than a few months, as they lose flavor over time when frozen, in my experience.

My initial wonderberry seed came from Trade Winds fruit.