Three little nightshades in one: Wonderberry, Chichiquelite, and the species

I’m comparing three nightshades this year: regulation black nightshade (“the species”), Wonderberry, and Chichiquelite.

Black Nightshade - Solanum nigrum

Wonderberry - Solanum nigrum

Chichiquelite - Solanum nigrum

There are pretty clear differences between them already. The chichiquelite is obviously the preferred nosh of flea beetles. Most of those plants have holes in the leaves. The wonderberry’s leaves are smoother than the regular black nightshade’s and have a bit more blue to them. Other than that?

Some consider the Wonderberry to be Solanum retroflexum. Others, perhaps more authoritative, say it’s plain old S. nigrum. You’ll find it identified as Solanum x burbankii, Solanum melanocerasum, and Solanum nigrum ssp. guineense. The chichiquelite is usually identified as  S. nigrum. It is definitely true that Chichiquelite’s berries are smaller and shinier than Wonderberry’s or the species’. I grew them all last year and noticed that right away. Still, I have read that black nightshade has a huge number of varieties even just here in North America. It’s a real shapeshifter. So it could well be that all three of these plants belong to the same species, no problem. Although it is usually more exact to use a Latin binomial for a plant, sometimes not so much.

These plants are much larger and clearly much happier in this spot, which does get some sun and has dedicated soaker hoses that I actually use, compared to the mostly shady spot they previously lived in. I rarely used the soaker hoses in that plot because the only thing on their loop was a bunch of black nightshades and I thought, well, sink or swim. This year, though, that shady spot is practically paved with nightshade volunteers, as plants that grow from shed seed are referred to amongst us seedsmen.;) I am going to let them grow and spread some soaker hoses out there and see how they do in comparison to these more coddled plants. I found a stat that said the even with full shade, S. nigrum aka Wonderberry aka Chichiquelite produced tons of berries.  IOW, fruit production in this plant, unlike the vast majority of others (like tomatoes, for instance) is not much negatively affected by greater shade. If this harvest turns out to be good and productive, I will not be having to buy anymore fruit bushes, that’s for sure, because these are extremely easy to grow and you can hardly get rid of them once they are there.

Re edibility, I have read that garden huckleberry, which is yet another name for the berries of S. nigrum, has been considered a sort of poverty fruit only edible with masses of sugar and lemon in thoroughly cooked pies. Wonderberry and Chichiquelite were supposedly developed for better tasting berries, sort of like the named varieties of ground cherry. Along those lines, yesterday I received Nature’s Garden: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants, a wonderful book on foraging by Samuel Thayer. It’s got an entire section devoted to black nightshade. He delved into the whole toxic thing in depth. He could not find any examples of anyone who had been poisoned by eating the berries of this plant in the past sixty years. Prior to that, he found reports, but examining them, he determined that they were actually referring to deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna).

Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum)

Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna)

In fact, I have myself seen belladonna referred to as black nightshade. But although they both have black berries, black nightshade has small white flowers similar in shape to tomato flowers, and deadly nightshade has purple/brown bell-shaped flowers. In terms of the berries, black nightshade’s berries are about the size of a pea, usually are dull in color, and the green sepals (fingers) are small and recurve only a little. In contrast, the deadly nightshade’s berries are shiny and larger, almost cherry size, and the green sepals are hefty and recurve noticeably. Thayer noted that in most of the world, black nightshade is considered a valuable food plant for both the leaves, which are usually cooked as a pot herb, and the berries, which can even be eaten raw.  I had heard that the berries would give you a bellyache if you ate them raw, containing the same stuff that is in the green bits of potatoes. He did caution that a person should always taste first and not eat bitter parts. I think that’s a good idea and I will definitely do that myself once the plants start producing berries. I know I am going to try making jam with the berries but also wine. I am so looking forward to trying this.

I have yet to work with this plant in any spiritual or magical way. I figure since like the daturas, it grows for me whether I plant it or not, there is a reason. I am determined to find out what that reason is this year.

I heartily recommend Nature’s Garden. What I like most about Thayer’s books is that he has actually eaten all this stuff, sort of like the Plants for a Future guy.Thayer said he “prepared” for writing the section on black nightshade by eating some of the black nightshade jam he had on hand.:) “Nature’s Garden” has the most detailed info on harvesting and preparing acorns that I have ever seen. I have always felt confused by the different info out there on them. He’s got specifics in enough detail that I know I will try acorns this fall. We have tons of oaks here. Thayer also wrote The Forager’s Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants, which is older but also very good.