Many people have eaten this poison when they were young.

A poison has appeared many times in "A Song of Ice and Fire". Sometimes it is called Nightshade Water, sometimes it is called Belladonna, and sometimes it is called Nightshade. The wizards of Qarth often drink it to enter the fantasy world. It will dye the lips blue, and the Unsullied also use it to paralyze the nerves.

But if you see the picture of Solanum nigrum, many friends may say:

"Hmm? Isn't this the 'Black Heaven' fruit I used to eat when I was a kid? It can indeed dye your mouth blue-black, but it seems that few people have ever been poisoned by it!"

Did you eat the small black fruit of Solanum nigrum when you were a child? | Pixabay

Inexplicably, I took the blame for the poison.

In fact, this is a translation problem . The English name of the whole nightshade plant is "Nightshade", and Solanum nigrum, a nightshade plant, is the most common nightshade plant in Eurasia and is generally called "Black nightshade" in English.

The prototype of Nightshade in Game of Thrones is not nightshade, but the famous Atropa belladonna. Although Atropa belladonna is not a nightshade, it still has a common name with Nightshade - "Deadly nightshade". If the adjective is not added in front, it will easily cause confusion in translation.

Classic poison belladonna. In Renaissance Italy, people believed that women with large pupils were beautiful, and the alkaloids contained in belladonna had the effect of dilating the pupils. Therefore, women at that time would drip belladonna juice into their eyes in order to get larger pupils. The specific epithet of belladonna, belladonna, means "beautiful woman" in Italian.｜H. Zell / wikimedia

Belladonna is one of the four classic poisons in Europe (Bellagio, Ginseng, Aconitum, Helleborus), containing alkaloids such as atropine and scopolamine , and is extremely neurotoxic . Excessive intake will first cause accelerated heart rate and central nervous system excitement. Continuing to increase the dose will inhibit the nervous system and eventually cause death. In ancient Europe, it was a drug commonly used for hypnosis and analgesia , and its history can be traced back to ancient Greece.

The fruit of the nightshade. In 2009, an adult woman mistook it for blueberries and ate six of them, which caused severe poisoning. | Kurt Stüber / wikimedia

But the "Black Tiantian" I'm going to introduce today is not that scary, otherwise it wouldn't be eaten as a wild fruit by children.

Nightshade is a very common weed, and it is common to see that its shape has no identifiable features. When it blooms, its identity as a plant in the Solanaceae family can be identified by its yellow anthers . Nightshade in the flowering period is still very common, and can even be used as a pepper in the vegetable field. In some places, it is also commonly known as "mountain pepper".

If you have grown common nightshade vegetables such as peppers, eggplants or potatoes, you will find that nightshade flowers are similar to them｜Evelyn Simak / Geograph

Can be eaten in various ways

In ancient books, all plants named "Sunflower" either have palmately divided leaves, similar to Malvaceae, or have a smooth taste, similar to winter mallow. Nightshade is the latter. The Compendium of Materia Medica says that it is " smooth like sunflower " and also finds a close relative for it called Longyang Longzhu.

The Compendium of Materia Medica classifies Solanum nigrum and Tubocapsicum as two different types of fruits, and states that "the fruit that is green when raw and red when ripe is Tubocapsicum, and the fruit that is green when raw and black when ripe is Tubocapsicum". The Tubocapsicum here does not necessarily refer to Tubocapsicum anomalum of the Solanaceae family , but may also refer to plants in the entire Solanaceae family that are similar in shape to Solanum nigrum and bear red fruits.

Authentic Dragon Ball｜Keisotyo / wikimedia

Throughout the Old World, the leaves and fruits of Solanum nigrum are widely used as food and are common wild vegetables and fruits. In ancient times, people used it to fill their stomachs and survive years of disaster; modern people cook it in various ways to make local delicacies.

In Greece and Turkey, its leaves are used as salad ingredients. In East Africa, it is cooked with chicken and pork and eaten with cereal porridge. It is a popular green vegetable. In southern India, people cook its leaves and fruits with tamarind and onions, and add cumin to make a local delicacy. In South Africa, good-looking fruits are used to make beautiful purple jams.

The thick leaves of Solanum nigrum are a delicacy on the tables of many countries and regions｜Harald Hubich / wikimedia

But eating badly can also cause poisoning

In many people's childhood memories, Solanum nigrum is a snack when they are hungry. It is a plant distributed nationwide, so it has a lot of common names according to its origin, such as Heitiantian, Heitiantian, Heiyouyou, Heiguniang, Dipaozi, Tianqiezi, etc. As for the taste, I haven't eaten it myself. The Compendium of Materia Medica records that it is "slightly sour", and the Jiuhuang Bencao says it is "sweet". I think it's just like that, not something particularly delicious.

Although many people have eaten it as a child and it is harmless, it is indeed risky to eat nightshade as a snack . As a plant of the Solanaceae family, nightshade also contains many toxic alkaloids unique to the Solanaceae family, such as solamargine and solanine. These alkaloids are found in higher levels in immature fruits and fresh plants . If eaten carelessly, they can cause serious digestive tract, heart and central nervous system symptoms. Although they are generally not fatal, they are also quite uncomfortable.

The ripe nightshade fruit is dark black, and its toxicity is weakened｜maxpixel

The alkaloid content in ripe fruits and cooked plants is low, but it does not mean that there is no alkaloid . People in some parts of Africa use nightshade as their main vegetable to fill the food gap before the corn harvest, and local residents often suffer from stomachache. If children eat a large amount of ripe nightshade fruits, they are still at risk of poisoning.

The entire Solanum family is roughly divided into two categories, one is the Solanum subgenus with thorns on the plant , and the other is the Solanum subgenus without thorns . In the Solanum subgenus, there are many species of plants that look similar to Solanum, with small white or purple flowers and red or black fruits, and some of them are more toxic . If you think you have rich experience in the wild and eat them at will, you may still be poisoned.

The long thorns on the stem of Solanum myriacanthum｜Carstor / wikimedia

Therefore, regardless of whether you have eaten this kind of snack in your childhood, my advice is still to control your mouth . After all, for a family that is so full of poisons, you can never be too cautious.

Author: Frost Moth

This article comes from GuokrNature (ID: GuokrNature)