Don't these look like nice cherry tomatoes getting ripe? Well, they're not. They are horse nettle (Solanum carolinense), a common weed, and they are poisonous!On a Sierra Club hike this past Saturday we saw some in a field and wondered what they were. Like good scientists we squooshed them open with our fingers. Ughhhhhh! what a horrible smell! They grow on spiny stalks, not vines. They are in the Nightshade family, to which tomatoes also belong.
I felt I should post this as a caution to the hiking public. Here's more info
4 comments:
Thank goodness I haven't seen any of those here .... thanks for posting the info!!
I don't recall ever seeing this plant. How big is the fruit?
I forgot to add in my previous comment (that I found in your link ) that they are also poisoness to cows ... guess who is going to be on a VERY careful lookout ....
Cheryl, click on "info" and in the Wiki article there is a photo. Enlarge it and you can compare the size of the surrounding leaves to get an idea. They say the berries are less toxic than the vegetation earlier in the year, but I'm still glad we didn't decide to taste them...that would have spoiled our hike for sure!
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