undiscovered berry?

[keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.)]

I think i discovered a new, and never-before cultivated berry Yesterday afternoon. It is a very small pea sized fruit that turn dark purple when ripe. The first one i tasted just like a gooseberry, but the second one i tasted like a Kiwano fruit/horned melon. I saved 1 berry for seeds. The seeds and the light green liquid did resemble the inside of a kiwano fruit. But, the plant itself is not a vine. It actually resembles wild spinach. And the leaves taste similar to a wild spinach or wild lettuce.

I tried looking all over the Internet for anything similar in the wild berry books, but found nothing. Even looked in a Rocky Mountain berry guide book on Google books. Still nothing similar was ever mentioned. I found this growing in the partal shade of my corn breeding plot. Along with a few mice foraging for food. So, if it does turns out to actually be an undiscovered variety I'd like to name it "Rodent Berry". (since i have a sneaking suspicion that the mice are the ones who planted it)

Sorry i don't have any pictures. I don't have a good camera, so the pictures would be useless. I will try to cultivate a few more from the seeds i collected, and study it more. I think it would make a nice house plant. It only seems to grow about a foot high at most.

[keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.)]

Okay, well i finally figured out what it was. It is either White Nightshade or Black Nightshade.

It's supposedly poisonous. But, i didn't feel any ill effects. Though i really only ate one berry. So, definitely not enough to poison anyone if it is indeed poisonous. I have my doubts, as there are people in india who can eat a poisonous sweet-pea, by just building up their resistance to it.

Also i found a reference on the Internet that it once was indeed eaten like spinach. So, it seems it can at least be used for salads.

I wish someone could tell us a way to actually test/measure these nightshade poisons. I'd like too see how much is present in modern tomato plants. I guess this thread should also be moved to the Solanacae forum.....

[castanea]

www.liseed.org/solanacea.html

[castanea]

Also see the wonderberry thread:

alanbishop.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tomatoes&action=display&thread=4652