# Name That Weed - nightshade



## Chuck (Oct 27, 2003)

Hey, this is fun! Today we were splitting firewood, and I found this vine-weed growing on the woodpile. Kinda cool looking. Anybody have an idea what it's good for?


----------



## Tempest (Oct 15, 2002)

Looking forward to the answer to this one. We had this growing up our willow tree's branches. At first I thought it was just more Morning Glory then I noticed the flowers were really different.


----------



## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

nightshade


----------



## jassytoo (May 14, 2003)

Yep, I'm with Cyngbaeld, looks just like deadly nightshade.


----------



## Chuck (Oct 27, 2003)

I sorta thought so too, but I changed my mind, because of the shape of the leaves.


----------



## diane (May 4, 2002)

Those flowers sure look like nightshade, but in these parts it isn't a vine  And the leaves don't look quite right.


----------



## Tempest (Oct 15, 2002)

I think nightshade is a positive ID. I just checked mine and the flowers have dropped leaving the berries. Here's a site with photos and uses:
http://www.all-creatures.org/picb/wfshl-nightshade.html

Thanks!


----------



## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

http://www.bbg.org/sci/nymf/encyclopedia/sol/sol0030c.htm

There are several varieties of nightshade. Some are vines. They are in the same family as potatoes, tomatoes and peppers. The drugs belladona and atropine were originally made from nightshade.


----------



## Fla Gal (Jul 14, 2003)

Cyngbaeld said:


> nightshade


Yep, nightshade.

Here in Florida it's a stand-a-lone plant. In West Virgina it's a cling-a-long vine. Different leaves, same blooms, but the Florida variety gets purple berries and the West Virginia vine gets red berries.

Yep, nightshade.


----------



## torade (Jun 17, 2004)

blue potato vine?

It looks like some kind of nightshade, which is good for skin problems like acne,warts or herpes.


----------



## Chuck (Oct 27, 2003)

Okay, you guys win. After looking at Tempest's link, I can confirm that it is nightshade. I always thought it was a standalone plant.

Good goin!


----------



## Tempest (Oct 15, 2002)

For use on warts, etc: it's supposed to picked before it flowers, right? Pooh that I didn't know that sooner. My daughter has a wart on her hand that won't go away even with the harsh storebought acids, etc. She even yanked the root out with tweezers. She gaffawed at the potatoe folk remedy as well


----------



## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

I think whether it's stand-alone or a vine depends on which part of the country that you live in. I remember when I first met Wind IN Her Hair (my wife), our first arguement was whether poison ivy was stand-alone (like it is here in Minnesota) or if it was a vine (like it is in Texas). Turns out we were both right!


----------



## inc (Dec 24, 2004)

incorrect:solanum dulcamara, the bittersweet nightshade.
very common weed of shady places. deadly nightshade, the atropa? that one is a bell flower and a deadly black berry.
this plant has brightest red berries and are not terribly poisonous, said ot be ok fully soft ripe but havent chanced it.


----------



## apirlawz (Dec 26, 2003)

Tempest said:


> My daughter has a wart on her hand that won't go away even with the harsh storebought acids, etc. She even yanked the root out with tweezers.


A little off topic, but I've had really good luck using milkweed sap. Just apply it a couple times a day until it just comes off on it's own. I think it took about a week for a wart I had on my index finger. If she's really stoic and in a hurry, a hot match head from a just-extinguished wooden match will also do the trick!

April


----------



## Peanut (May 10, 2002)

I worked for my city's environmental division one summer and we pulled all the nightshade we found near streams because it was considered an invasive weed. That's up here in BC though...might be different in other areas.
Those plants have a distinct smell too...that helps to identify them even if they're too covered in sludge to recognize.


----------



## inc (Dec 24, 2004)

did you pull any cytisus or ligustrum too?


----------

