What crops are related to nightshade plants?

All plants are divided into categories or crops. What qualifies as grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits is clear, but some categories raise questions.

Knowing what types of nightshade crops exist, what common features these plants have, and what to treat them with will be useful not only for gardeners.

Features of culture

Most nightshade plants, of which there are over 2,300 species, are wild; cultivated representatives are few. Most grow in Central and South America, but Russia also has a significant number of nightshade plants. Many grow right next to garbage dumps and along roadsides. The most common are datura, henbane, and black nightshade.

Nightshades can be perennials or annuals, but they all share the following characteristics:

• The leaves are blade-shaped and may be entire or dissected. The surface is sometimes covered with hairs. Stipules are absent;
• the stem is straight, covered with hairs, very juicy, but fragile and easily broken;
• sometimes underground shoots form into tubers;
• inflorescences can be complex in the form of a panicle or brush, as well as simple in the form of a single flower;
• perianth double;
• flowers of both sexes;
• fruits in the form of berries or capsules;
• almost all unripe fruits are poisonous;
• The root system is in most cases taproot, but if propagation is vegetative, it can be fibrous.

Representatives of culture

The Solanaceae family is vast. For ease of understanding, members of this family are divided into:

1. Herbaceous.
2. Decorative.
3. Wild-growing.
4. Medicinal.
5. Poisonous.

Herbaceous

These nightshades grow primarily in temperate climates. They can be annuals or perennials. The following are distinguished:

• Vegetables. These primarily include potatoes, peppers, eggplants, physalis, melon pears, and some others. Their cultivation began in leading European countries as early as the 16th century. To obtain the vegetables we eat today, breeders have done a tremendous amount of work.
• Medicinal. The most notable herbs in this subgroup are henbane, nightshade, and belladonna.
• Indoor plants. Those who grow jasminoides, petunias, and brugmansias often don't realize they have members of the nightshade family growing on their windowsills.

Decorative

Among this category, vines are the most popular. Climbing nightshades are highly prized by gardeners. They grow very quickly, bloom beautifully, and provide essential shade.

Common in our country:

• Ampelous calibrachia. Its flowers are very bell-like and exude a pleasant fragrance. Some subspecies, especially the white one, bloom during rainfall;
• Petunia. Profusely and long-lasting blooms, pleasantly fragrant, and suitable for vertical gardening on terraces and balconies;
• Bittersweet nightshade. It is most often used as a decorative plant for ponds. The flowers are not particularly eye-catching, but the deep, bright red capsules immediately catch the eye.
• Jasminoides nightshade. It blooms from spring until frost and has a stunning scent.

Wild-growing

These nightshades grow along roadsides, near landfills, and garbage dumps, like weeds. The most common is black nightshade. It has beautiful flowers, but the fruits are poisonous, though some risk eating them when ripe.

Datura and henbane are very common. They are also poisonous. Even picking them requires heavy gloves.

Medicinal

Almost any member of the nightshade family can be used to make medicine.

Belladonna is especially noteworthy. It is used to make medications for the gastrointestinal, respiratory, and genitourinary systems. The plant is indispensable in providing assistance after mushroom poisoning and in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

Henbane is used to make painkillers, as well as remedies for insomnia, neuroses, headaches, and more. It has proven effective in treating gout, bone tuberculosis, and rheumatism.

Mandrake is a powerful wound-healing agent. Since ancient times, the plant's leaves have been applied to wounds, and they healed very quickly. Today, the plant is used to prepare decoctions, ointments, and other medicines.

Poisonous

Indeed, some plants in the nightshade family can be fatal. Moreover, ingesting them is not necessary. Sometimes, a drop of sap splashed on the skin while picking a stem is enough.

The most dangerous:

• Belladonna. Ten berries kill a person, and 3-5 kill an animal, depending on its size.
• Wolfberry. Dangerous to humans and animals, but gardeners have learned to exploit its toxic properties, making it into a pesticide;
• Henbane. Even inhaling the scent of its flowers causes hallucinations.

The Solanaceae family is one of the most widespread. It's not just the amazing combination of beauty, edibility, toxicity, and medicinal properties that attracts. Each plant is unique in its own way.