Rural School Leaflet 



1291 



It is said that some persons who are immune to the attack of poison 

 ivy are poisoned by poison sumac, and vice versa. The effect of 

 poisoning by this plant is very similar to that by poison ivy. (See 

 page 1290.) 



Plants not poisonous to the touch, but poisonous if eaten. 1. Bittersweet, 

 nightshade (Solanum Dulcamara, L.). This nightshade is particularly no- 

 ticeable in fall, when the vines laden with bright red berries are conspic- 

 uous along the roadsides. The leaves are characteristic, being lobed or cleft 

 at the base and appearing 

 to be composed of one large 

 leaflet with two smaller 

 leaflets at the base. The 

 flowers resemble potato 

 blossoms, as they should, 

 since this plant and the 

 potato are very closely 

 related. In the case of 

 nightshade, however, the 

 flowers are blue in color 

 instead of white. The whole 

 plant, except the flowers 

 and fruits, has a deep 

 greenish color, often with 

 a slight purplish tinge. The 

 fruits hang in rather loose 

 clusters and are juicy. They 

 are slightly longer than 

 broad and, as has been said, 

 are bright red in color. 

 A case has been reported 

 in which a four-years-old boy died within twenty-four hours after eating 

 a number of the ripe berries. 



2. Black nightshade, deadly nightshade, common or garden nightshade 

 (Solanum nigrum, L.). Black nightshade is very closely related to bitter- 

 sweet. It is not, however, a climber and the leaves are of a different 

 type. The fruits, too, differ in being nearly globose and dark blue or 

 black in color. The flowers closely resemble those of bittersweet, but 

 are white in color and much like potato blossoms. The leaves are some- 

 what diamond-shaped, with deep notches toward the end. They are 

 usually full of holes made by insects or by fungous diseases. The poison 

 of this plant is more deadly than that of the preceding species, many 

 cases of death from eating the fruit having been reported. The Arabs 



Jimson weed 

 {See page 1293) 



