Nightshade plants are widely used. About nightshade products. What problems arise with nightshades?

It would seem that it makes no difference what family this or that plant belongs to, which our grandfathers and great-grandfathers grew, and we continue to grow. Of course, you can do without this, and most summer residents do. The wisdom that we were taught in sixth grade biology lessons has long been forgotten, and there is neither time nor desire to read about monocots and dicotyledons, stamens and pistils again. However, simple knowledge about whether a plant belongs to a certain family will help to grow crops more successfully.

Belonging to the same family

Plants are united into families due to the similarity of their external data, from which we can conclude that their growing conditions should be similar. It is no coincidence that almost all nightshades are native to South America. This means that their friends and enemies should also be similar.

Such knowledge simplifies the tasks of a gardener. Looking at how deliciously the Colorado potato beetle devours potato bushes, he must wonder whether the beetle will move its numerous offspring onto tomatoes, eggplants or peppers when the potato plantings become too crowded for it. And for many he has already moved in that direction to the surprise of the gardener: “What! This bastard eats tomatoes too?!” If he knew that tomatoes and potatoes are related, he would not be surprised.

Knowing the "family" nature of vegetables will protect you from mistakes when annually alternating plantings in order to obtain a larger harvest. The predecessor must in no case be a “relative”. After all, they pull the same chemical elements from the soil, thereby depleting the soil for the next vegetable. They have the same pests, hiding in the soil, so that in the spring, with an awakened appetite, they attack new victims.

Representatives of the Solanaceae family

The Solanaceae family boasts a wide variety of its representatives. Among them are the most popular vegetables among people; ornamental, medicinal and poisonous plants. Some of them are herbs, others are vines or shrubs and small trees.

Nightshade plants - list of crops

Nightshade vegetables

* Eggplant

* Potato

*Vegetable pepper

* Tomatoes

* Cyphomandra is an evergreen tomato tree (or shrub), which cannot live in our climatic conditions, prefers the mountainous regions of South America. Jam and compotes are prepared from its fruits. They are eaten raw, stewed and fried.

Ornamental plants of the Solanaceae family

* Fragrant tobacco

* Datura garden

* Nikandra

* Petunia

* Physalis

Medicinal (also poisonous) plants

* Henbane (Mad Grass, Blekota, Rabies, Toothgrass, Scabbers) - all parts of the plant are poisonous.

* Belladonna (Mad berry, Crazy cherry, Krasukha, Belladonna vulgaris, Sleepy stupor).

* Mandrake - its fleshy root, rich in starch, is poisonous. Often the branched roots look like human figures, which is why in ancient times magical properties were attributed to the roots.

* Scopolia.

Hybridogenic species of the Solanaceae family

* Sunberry is a delicious berry from which jams, preserves, marmalade, jellies, and candied fruits are made. Vegetable caviar is prepared. Good for filling dumplings and pies. Wine is made from it and also dried for the winter. The plant was obtained by crossing the small-fruited European nightshade with the tasteless (but not poisonous) African nightshade, which imparted large-fruited, decorative and productive properties to the hybrid.

Potatoes with petunia flowers

Plants belonging to the same family have a magical property. One plant can be grafted onto another. For example, a potato bush can dress up in petunia flowers if it is grafted with a petunia cutting. If you do the same with a tomato cutting, then tomatoes will grow on the potato bush.

“Why are such “freaks” needed?” you ask. For example, then, to turn the cultivation of a fastidious vegetable pepper, which requires watering and attention, into a drought-resistant plant by grafting its cuttings onto an unpretentious wild-growing black nightshade.

Such grafting has long become commonplace when it comes to fruit trees and berry bushes. But this action can be carried out with other plants, provided that they belong to the same family.

21st century - the further a person is from nature, the greater the desire to eat natural products. More and more attention is being paid to the quality of food; we want to know what and how appears on our table. It’s impossible to imagine our menu without potatoes, peppers, eggplants and many other vegetables. They all belong to the same family - nightshade.

general information

The Solanaceae family, from the Dicotyledonous class, Flowering division, from the Plant kingdom, has at least 100 genera and more than 2,500 species.

The family consists of small trees, creeping shrubs and herbs

The leaves have a variety of shapes- can be:

• whole;
• serrated;
• incised;
• lobed

They are located in pairs - large and small. They often have a specific smell.

The flower is bisexual, regular, with a calyx of 5 leaves, shaped like teeth or lobes. The inflorescences-curls have no bracts; they have a double-leaved perianth. Five filaments of stamens are attached to the corolla tube. The ovary of the pistil is two-locular with a large number of ovules. The anthers are large and located closer to the center of the flower. Ch(5)L(5)T(5)P(1) - the formula of which can describe the nightshade flower. The plant has several flowers collected in small inflorescences. The fruit contains a large number of seeds.

In Russia, the family is represented only by herbs, about 45 species. The main representatives come from North and South America. The most famous - potatoes and tomatoes, appeared in Europe only in the middle of the 16th century and were initially considered only as ornamental plants. In Russia, this culture became known two centuries later.

Today, these nightshades are already of irreplaceable importance as a food product.

What beneficial qualities does nightshade have?

Vegetables

The nightshade family includes such popular cultivated vegetables as potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants.

Potatoes - every person knows this plant well. It's hard to imagine a table without it. In the diet of most of us occurs almost daily. Contrary to popular belief, this crop contains useful minerals and is rich in vitamins, especially provitamin A. It is difficult to list all the dishes where potatoes are found.

The diversity is simply amazing; the plant is represented by a mass of varieties of different taste, shape, size, color, chemical composition and quality. There are varieties that are not afraid of frost, and even light frosts; the Colorado potato beetle does not take them. In the general ranking of agricultural crops, this plant is second only to wheat, rice and corn.

An equally popular nightshade is the tomato. Europeans learned about it at the same time as potatoes, but the Aztecs and Incas cultivated this plant already in the 8th century. Today, more than 10,000 varieties of tomato are known. There was a long debate about whether this plant should be classified as a berry or a vegetable. In 2001, the European Union determined that it is a representative fruit. The tomato fruit does not contain cholesterol and has large amounts of vitamins A and C, there is sirotin or the “happiness hormone”. Due to its lycopene content, it is a good anticancer agent and is used to prevent cardiovascular diseases. Heat treatment does not impair its beneficial qualities.

Eggplants and a wide variety of peppers are also part of the nightshade family.

Berries

More rare representatives are physalis, melon pear, okra. The okra fruit has only recently appeared in our diet. But in Asia, this nightshade product has been grown for more than 2 thousand years. years. When used correctly, it is an excellent addition to the diet. Known for many wonderful qualities - lowers cholesterol, normalizes blood pressure, heart function, vision, and digestion. Reduces fatigue, improves immunity and much more.

The nightshade species is known for many popular berries.

Everyone knows about gooseberries, another name is bersen. The plant is distributed throughout Russia and the CIS. Since XI it has been grown in monastery gardens. We love modern summer residents. At least 1,500 varieties are known, the crop is valued as a honey plant, rich in sugar, acids, many vitamins, contains pectin substances, and is used in medicine.

The nightshade family contains another interesting plant - the goji berry, or Chinese berry, whose composition is indispensable for humans - iron, zinc, iodine, calcium, phosphorus and many other trace elements. It contains unique polysaccharides and 18 different amino acids, vitamins B, E, C. A good preventative, useful for high sugar, cholesterol, improves vision, nourishes the brain, improves digestion, a good antioxidant, has anti-cancer properties.

The family is simply obliged to have such a berry as black nightshade. The berry is used as a filling for pies, jam is made from it, and jelly is boiled. Let's consider what type of fruit the nightshade has - black, less often white or greenish, round in shape with a diameter of up to 1 cm, juicy. It must be remembered that unripe fruit cannot be consumed, it is poisonous.

Flowers

The nightshade flower is very popular among gardeners. The most common type of petunia is a bright, large, beautiful flower. About 15 species and many hybrids. There is no gardener who could do without petunias. Nightshade rightfully takes its place in flower beds - datura, cestrum, brufelsia. Almost any plant of this species can be grown as an ornamental. Besides the flowers, the fruit looks very beautiful.

Family known many medicinal plants:

• Most often in medicine, a type of nightshade is used, such as belladonna; the leaves are used to make tablets, tinctures, etc.; prescribed to reduce the tone of the intestines, bronchi, uterus, improve heart function, increase eye pressure, as an antioxidant;
• Henbane is well known for its analgesic properties; raw materials are collected until the flower has fully blossomed;
• For many centuries, mandrake has been used for medicinal purposes - as a painkiller, healing wounds, and for skin pathologies; it is difficult to overestimate this plant;
• The black nightshade flower is used for medicinal purposes as an expectorant and diuretic.

However, not everything is so simple; we should not forget the harmfulness of some representatives of this family. Wikipedia gives a fairly complete overview of such plants with pictures; examples of them are widespread in many countries.

What danger does the nightshade species contain?

Any plant from this family contains alkaloids, which makes them poisonous. The most famous alkaloid is nicotine. Tobacco is also a nightshade plant. So much has been written about the dangers of tobacco that it seems there is nothing left to add. Almost all countries of the world declared real war on him.

Quite often, belladonna berries cause poisoning, although this plant is almost harmless to animals. But almost all cultivated nightshades often cause poisoning in horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs. Even regular potatoes can be poisonous. Many cases of mass poisoning by black nightshade have been recorded. To avoid problems, it should be destroyed near pastures.

Among the nightshades there is such a terrible plant as nightshade. A nasty quarantine weed. If you miss the moment, it will quickly clog your garden or vegetable garden. Crop losses reach 100%. The leaves are poisonous to animals; the plant is a breeding ground for the Colorado potato beetle, potato moth, and pathogens of viral diseases.

Tomato, pepper, eggplant, potato - these plants have long been known for their economic importance. All of them belong to the Solanaceae family. Flower formula, fruit type, life form - these are the signs by which the presented plants can be combined. Our article is devoted to the characteristics and diversity of representatives of this systematic unit.

Signs of the Solanaceae family

All representatives of this group, growing in a temperate climate zone, are exclusively herbaceous plants. But in Central and South America there are vines, shrubs, and trees. Characteristics of the Solanaceae family also include simple leaves with a blade shape, they can be whole, incised, or jagged.

Parts of some plants are covered with glandular cells. Their secretions have a specific smell. Datura and henbane accumulate toxic substances called alkaloids in their tissues.

Solanaceae family: flower formula

Did you know that biology also has formulas? For example, Ch(5) L(5) T5 P1. And it is also a systematic feature of the Solanaceae family. The flower formula is very easy to decipher.

The first two letters and numbers characterize the structure of the perianth. H(5) is the number of sepals, and L(5) is the number of petals. The latter grow together, so they visually resemble a tube. T5 - number of stamens. In members of the family, they all grow together with the corolla. And, it’s easy to guess, P1 is the only pestle.

Such flowers can be single or collected in inflorescences, like those of potatoes. Most often they are pollinated by insects. Their attention is attracted by the aroma and bright aureole. In the tropics, birds and mammals also take part in the pollination process.

Solanaceae produce two types of fruit: berry and capsule. The first has a dense protective skin, fleshy middle and inner layers, and contains many seeds. Berries are formed in the process of tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and eggplants. A capsule is a dry multi-seeded fruit. It can open up in different ways. For example, Datura has numerous longitudinal slits, and henbane has a lid.

Diversity

In addition to well-known vegetable crops such as peppers and potatoes, the Solanaceae family also includes ornamental species. These are physalis, petunia, fragrant tobacco. They are valued for their brightly colored corollas and pleasant aroma.

Medicinal plants include black nightshade, bittersweet, and pepper. They are used in the treatment of rheumatism, lichen, psoriasis, and as an expectorant. Belladonna is also famous for its healing properties. The leaves of this plant have long been used to make drugs that reduce muscle tone.

Henbane, which is considered a poisonous plant, is widely used in medicine as an analgesic and expectorant. The herb also has a relaxing effect on the nervous system.

The mandrake also has a typical structure of the Solanaceae family. During the Middle Ages, it was credited with witchcraft properties, which is why it was called a witch’s or witch’s flower. The root of this plant visually resembles a human figure. The shoot has no stem. It consists of leaves and large single flowers with a bright corolla.

This unusual structure determined the use of mandrake for magical purposes as a love spell, getting rid of infertility and many ailments. It is known that in Ancient Greece the flowers of this plant were worn around the neck as a decoration and an amulet of love.

In fact, mandrake is very poisonous. It can both excite and inhibit the activity of the nervous system, cause insomnia and even hallucinations.

Economic importance of plants

But the most important thing is still the vegetable Solanaceae. Can you imagine your diet without potatoes? Surely not. But for a long time this plant was considered poisonous. And all because people used its fruits, which are truly inedible, for food. Only potato inflorescences were used to decorate clothes, hats and hairstyles. Today, people eat underground modifications of the shoot - tubers.

So, in our article we looked at the following features of the Solanaceae family:

• flower formula Ch(5) L(5) T5 P1;
• the corolla is formed by fused petals;
• life forms - herbs, less often - shrubs, vines and trees;
• leaves are simple;
• fruit - berry or capsule.

Representatives of the nightshade family, cultivated and wild, can be found throughout the world. These are herbaceous and woody plants, vines, annual and perennial. Pollinated by insects. In tropical zones, birds and animals can participate in pollination. The bulk of species richness is concentrated in Central and South America.

The numerous nightshade family, numbering more than 2,600 species, plays a large role in human life. Plants have food, medicinal, and technical significance.

Vegetable nightshade crops

Vegetables from the nightshade family came to Europe in the mid-16th century. Modern varieties of vegetable crops are the result of centuries of work by a large army of farmers and breeders.

These plants are poisonous, so they are used with great caution and in very small doses. They are used in both folk and official medicine. When eating fruits, berries or seeds of these plants, poisoning may occur.

Ornamental plants of the nightshade family

Ornamental nightshade plants are valued by gardeners. Lianas and climbing bushes delight with bright flowers and fruits of various colors.

The nightshade family is numerous and diverse. Without everyone’s favorite vegetables - tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and potatoes, it is impossible to organize proper nutrition. Medicinal plants serve as raw materials for the preparation of medicines. Decorative representatives of the family delight the eye with their rich flowering.

Nightshade crops (lat. Solanoideae)- a family of dioecious dioecious plants. The family includes the Solanaceae subfamily, consisting of 56 genera; in total, 115 genera and 2678 species belong to nightshade crops, most of which grow in the tropics and subtropics of America. The properties of nightshade crops were first described in the work “General History of the Affairs of New Spain” by Bernardino de Sahagún, which was compiled largely from the testimony of the aborigines - the Aztecs. The Solanaceae family includes many edible plants, including those grown in cultivation, as well as medicinal and ornamental species, many of which are poisonous.

Family Solanaceae - description

Representatives of the family are herbaceous plants, shrubs and small trees with alternate or opposite (in the area of ​​inflorescences) leaves, bisexual actinomorphic or zygomorphic flowers, usually collected in axillary terminal inflorescences. The flowers of nightshade crops are pollinated by insects; in the tropics, birds and even small mammals take part in pollination. The family is divided into two subfamilies - Solanaceae and Nolanaceae. The Nolanaceae include the genera Nolan (75 plant species) and Alona (5-6 Chilean species), and the Solanaceae subfamily consists of 5 tribes, and the most numerous of them is the Solanaceae tribe, which in turn is divided into subtribes. Representatives of the Solanaceae tribe of the Solanaceae subfamily of the Solanaceae family will be discussed in our article.

Fruiting nightshade plants

Tomatoes

Tomatoes, or tomatoes (lat. Solanum lycopersicum) is a species of herbaceous annuals of the Solanaceae genus of the Solanaceae family, which is cultivated as a vegetable crop. The name “tomato” comes from the Italian language and means “golden apple” (pomo d’oro), and “tomato” is a derivative of the Aztec name for the plant “shitomatl”. As already mentioned, nightshade crops were cultivated by Indian tribes. In the middle of the 16th century the conquistadors brought the tomato to Portugal and Spain, then it came to France and Italy, after which it spread throughout Europe. At first, tomatoes, which were considered poisonous, were grown as an exotic curiosity. The fruits of tomatoes in Europe did not have time to ripen. Fruit ripening was achieved only by growing crops by seedling method and using the ripening method.

Tomatoes have a developed and branched tap-type root system, going one meter or more deep and 1.5-2.5 m wide. The stem of tomatoes is lodging or erect, branching, from 30 cm to two meters or more in height . The leaves are dissected into large lobes, the flowers are yellow, small and inconspicuous, collected in a raceme inflorescence. Each flower contains both male and female organs. Tomato fruits are multi-locular juicy berries of round or cylindrical shape. The size of the fruit can reach 800 grams or more, but the average weight is usually 50-100 g. The color, depending on the variety, can be light pink, hot pink, red, red-orange, crimson, light or bright yellow. Tomato fruits have high taste, nutritional and dietary properties and contain sugars (glucose and fructose), proteins, organic acids, fiber, pectins, starch and minerals.

By type of growth, tomato varieties are determinate and indeterminate, by ripening time - early, mid-ripening and late; by purpose, tomato varieties are divided into table varieties intended for canning or for juice production, and according to the shape of the bush, tomatoes are standard, non-standard and potato type.

Tomatoes are a light- and heat-loving crop that does not tolerate high air humidity, but requires abundant watering. They are grown both in open and closed ground. If you want to plant tomatoes in your summer cottage, choose an open place for them, but protected from the wind and well-lit by the sun, on the south or southwest side. The optimal soil acidity for tomatoes is 6-7 pH. Tomatoes grow best in light soils. Onions, cabbage, zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, pumpkin, green manure are suitable as predecessors for tomatoes, and after crops such as potatoes, peppers, eggplant, physalis and other nightshades, tomatoes can be grown only after three to four years. There are many varieties and hybrids of tomatoes. Popular early tomato varieties include White Filling, Iskorka, Aquarelle, Supermodel, Eldorado, Katyusha, Skorospelka, Golden Flow, Mazarin, Triumph, Visibly Invisible, Black Bunch, Puzata Khata; mid-season varieties include Labrador, Gigolo, High Color, Marusya, Samson , Raspberry miracle, greenhouse tomatoes Auria, Afalina, Grandma's secret, Koenigsberg. Of the late-ripening tomatoes, the varieties in demand are Rio Grand, Titan, Yellow Date, Finish, Citrus Garden, Cherry, Miracle of the Market and others.

Eggplant

Eggplant, or dark-fruited nightshade (lat. Solanum melongena) is a species of herbaceous annuals of the genus Nightshade. Only the fruits of this plant are edible - in the botanical sense they are berries, but in the culinary sense they are vegetables. The Russian name “eggplant” comes from the Turkish “patlyjan” and the Tajik “boklachon”. Eggplants grew wild in South Asia, India and the Middle East - in these areas you can still find the distant ancestors of this plant. According to Sanskrit sources, eggplants were introduced into culture about one and a half thousand years ago. In the 9th century, Arabs brought eggplants to Africa; they came to Europe in the 15th century, but eggplants became widespread only in the 19th century.

The powerful root system of plants can penetrate one and a half meters deep, but most of the roots are located in the surface layer of soil - no deeper than 40 cm. The stem of the eggplant is pubescent, round in cross-section, sometimes with a purple tint, as are the large, alternate, rough and pubescent leaves , similar in shape to oak. The height of the stem of determinate varieties intended for open ground reaches from 50 to 150 cm, and indeterminate varieties bred for cultivation in greenhouses are up to 3 m high. Bisexual, with a diameter of 2.5 to 5 cm, solitary, but more often collected 2-7 pieces in semi-umbrella inflorescences, eggplant flowers open from July to September. Their color varies from light lilac to dark purple, but there are also varieties with white flowers. The eggplant fruit is a round, cylindrical or pear-shaped berry with a glossy or matte surface, reaching a length of 70, a diameter of 20 cm, and a weight of sometimes 1 kg. The fruits are eaten unripe, as soon as they acquire a lilac or dark purple color. If the berry is allowed to ripen, it will turn gray-green or brownish-yellow, tasteless and rough. However, there are eggplant varieties with fruits of white, green, yellow and even red. Small light brown seeds ripen in fruits in August-October.

Eggplants are grown mainly by seedlings. You should know that this crop is characterized by increased demands on growing conditions: due to temperature fluctuations, eggplants can shed buds, flowers and even ovaries; seeds germinate at temperatures not lower than 15 ºC; the plant is highly sensitive to light, so in cloudy weather, in the shade or in dense plantings, the growth of eggplants slows down greatly, and small fruits are formed; The soil moisture in the eggplant bed should be maintained at 80%. In addition, eggplants do not tolerate transplanting and picking well.

Eggplants are grown in light, loose, well-fertilized sandy loam soils in open, sunny areas. The best predecessors for eggplants are cucumber, winter wheat, onions, cabbage, green manure, carrots, pumpkin, zucchini, squash and legumes. The worst predecessors are other nightshades, after which eggplants can only be grown after three to four years.

The composition of ripe eggplant fruits includes fiber, dietary fiber, carotene, pectin, organic acids, tannins, sugar, biologically active and mineral substances. Eating eggplant helps improve the condition of the biliary tract, gastrointestinal tract, blood vessels and heart, increase hemoglobin, and remove excess cholesterol from the body.

Among the many eggplants, the most popular varieties can be distinguished: Swan, Black Beauty, Solaris, Maria, Vera, Japanese Dwarf, Globe, Bear, Almaz, Egorka, Severny, Nizhnevolzhsky, Panther, Surprise, Long Violet, Albatross, Smuglyanka, Golden Egg, White egg, Valentina, White Night, Japanese Red, hybrids Purple Miracle, Emerald, Galina and Esaul.

Pepper

It is a species of herbaceous annual plants of the Capsicum genus of the Solanaceae family. Pepper is a valuable and widely cultivated crop. Varieties of this plant are divided into sweet (for example, bell pepper, or vegetable pepper, or paprika) and bitter (red pepper). However, you should know that capsicum has nothing to do with black pepper, which belongs to the Pepper genus of the Pepper family. The homeland of capsicum is America, where it is still found in the wild to this day. In culture, capsicum is grown in tropical, subtropical and southern temperate latitudes of all continents.

Actually, pepper is a perennial shrub, but in cultivation it is grown as an annual plant. The stem of the pepper is erect, highly branched, from 25 to 80 cm in height. The leaves are petiolate, elongated, pubescent or smooth - the leaves of bitter pepper are narrow and long, while those of sweet pepper are larger and wider. Bisexual small flowers of white, gray-violet or yellow hue open 2.5-3 months after sowing. The fruit of pepper is a two- to six-chambered multi-seeded berry. Sweet peppers have large, fleshy, round, cylindrical or elongated fruits; hot peppers have small, elongated fruits - awl-shaped, horn-shaped or trunk-shaped. The color of ripe fruits is red, yellow or orange. The seeds are round, flat, pale yellow in color.

The main value of pepper lies in the high content of vitamin C, which is found in the pulp of the fruit of this plant more than in lemon or black currant. Sweet pepper fruits also contain vitamins P, A and group B, zinc, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, iodine, as well as sodium and potassium, and bell peppers owe their taste and aroma to capsaicin, an alkaloid useful for gastrointestinal activity.

Peppers, like eggplants, are grown mainly by seedlings. The root system of pepper is superficial - most of the roots are located at a depth of 20-30 cm. The areas allocated for pepper should be sunny and protected from the wind. Optimal for the plant is fertile, well-drained soil that can retain moisture. The area for peppers is prepared in the fall - cleared of weeds and plant debris, dug up and fertilized. The best predecessors for capsicum are beets, carrots, turnips, rutabaga, daikon, radish, peas, beans, squash, zucchini, pumpkin, cucumbers, and after nightshade crops, peppers can only be grown after 3-4 years.

Among the best varieties of sweet peppers we can name such as Atlant, Red Shovel, Big Papa, Bagheera, Gold Reserve, Apricot Favorite, Agapovsky, Bogatyr, Bugai, Ox's Ear, Health, Yellow Bell, Californian Miracle, Tusk, Fat Baron, Siberian Bonus , Kolobok, Cockatoo, hybrids Gemini, Claudio, Gypsy, Eskimo, Star of the East (white, white in red, golden and chocolate), Isabella and others.

Among the varieties of bitter capsicum, the most popular are Adjika, Hungarian yellow, Vizier, Indian summer, Magic bouquet, Gorgon, For the mother-in-law, Badass, Double abundance, Coral, White lightning, Fiery volcano, Fire bouquet, Queen of spades, Superchili, Mother-in-law's tongue and others .

Potato

Potato, or tuberous nightshade (lat. Solanum tuberosum) is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Nightshade genus, the tubers of which are one of the staple foods in many countries of the world. The scientific name was assigned to the plant in 1596 by Caspar Baugin, and the Germans called it potato, slightly altering the Italian word tartufolo, which means “truffle”.

The potato is native to South America, where it is still found in the wild. Potatoes were introduced into culture 7-9 thousand years ago by the Indians living in Bolivia - they not only ate, but also worshiped this culture. Potatoes most likely appeared in Europe in 1551, and the first evidence of their use as food dates back to 1573. Then the culture spread to Belgium, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Great Britain as an ornamental poisonous plant, but Antoine Auguste Parmentier proved that potato tubers are tasty and nutritious, and this made it possible during his lifetime to defeat scurvy and famine in France, which often caused the population of the country suffered. Potatoes appeared in Russia under Peter I, but did not become widespread. Due to the fact that the culture was outlandish for the people, cases of poisoning by potato fruits, which the peasants called the “devil’s apple,” became more frequent, and when an order was issued to increase potato planting, “potato riots” swept across the country - the people were afraid of innovations, and this is why Slavophiles warmly supported it. The “Potato Revolution” was crowned with success already during the time of Nicholas I, and by the beginning of the 20th century, potatoes became the main food product in the Russian Empire after bread.

Today, potatoes are grown in the temperate climate zone of all countries of the Northern Hemisphere, and in 1995 they became the first vegetable to be grown in space.

A potato bush can reach a height of one meter, the stem of the plant is bare and ribbed, the leaves are dark green, petiolate, imparipinnate, consisting of a terminal lobe and several pairs of lateral lobes located oppositely. Small lobes are located between the leaf lobes. Potato flowers are pink, purple or white, collected in apical corymbose inflorescences. On the underground part of the stem, from the axils of the embryonic leaves, stolons grow - underground shoots, on the tops of which tubers develop, which are swollen buds. The tubers consist of cells filled with starch, and on the outside they are covered with a thin cork tissue. Potato tubers ripen in August-September. The fruit of a potato is a dark green, multi-seeded, poisonous berry, resembling a tomato, with a diameter of up to 2 cm. The green organs of the potato contain the alkaloid solanine, which is poisonous to humans, so tubers with green vegetables should not be eaten.

A potato tuber is 75% water; it also contains starch, proteins, sugars, fiber, pectins, other organic compounds and minerals. Potatoes have great nutritional value and are one of the main suppliers of potassium. It is boiled unpeeled and without peel, fried, stewed, baked over coals and in the oven. It is used as a side dish, added to salads, soups, and made into independent dishes and chips.

Potatoes are grown on chernozems, in gray forest and soddy-podzolic soils, on drained peat bogs, in light and medium sandy and loamy soils - the soil for growing the crop must be loose. There are about five thousand varieties of potatoes, which differ in terms of ripening, degree of resistance to diseases and pests, and yield. According to the purpose of use, potato varieties are divided into four groups - table, fodder, technical and universal. Starch is produced from tubers of technical varieties; fodder varieties are distinguished by a high content of proteins and dry matter. Table varieties are grown as a vegetable crop, and universal in protein and starch content they occupy an intermediate place between industrial and table varieties. Table varieties according to ripening periods are divided into super-early (Zhukovsky early, Bellarosa, Colette, Impala), early (Vineta, Gala, Udacha, Red Scarlett, Red Lady, Charodey, Bonus, Vesna, Baron), mid-early (Romano, Ivan-da- Marya, Blue Danube, Nevsky, Ilyinsky, Handsome, Jelly), mid-season (Roko, Nakra, Golubizna, Aurora, Bonnie, Dad, Donetsky, Dunyasha) and mid-late (Red Fantasy, Picasso, Zarnitsa, Garant, Mozart, Orbita, Malinovka, Marlene).

Melon pear

Melon pear, or sweet cucumber, or pepino (lat. Solanum muricatum)- an evergreen shrub native to South America, which is grown for its sweet fruits, whose aroma resembles pumpkin, melon and cucumber. The plant is cultivated mainly in Chile, Peru and New Zealand.

Pepino is a perennial, semi-lignified shrub with numerous axillary shoots, reaching a height of one and a half meters. In unfavorable conditions, the plant sheds its leaves. The root system of the melon pear is fibrous and compact, lying shallow. The stems are erect, flexible, 6-7 cm in diameter, more or less covered with anthocyanin, curved and thickened at the internodes. Aging stems become ash-gray in color. In conditions of high humidity, the plant forms aerial roots. Pepino leaves are alternate, simple or divided into 3-7 lobes, lanceolate, entire, dark or light green, smooth or pubescent. Inflorescences of 20 or more flowers are formed at the end of the shoots, but the growth of the shoots continues after the flowers open - the peduncles reach a length of 4 to 20 cm. The color of the flowers can be monochromatic - blue, white, light purple, or with blue stripes in the middle petal The ripe fruit is a lemon-yellow or creamy-yellow berry, sometimes covered with purple speckles or jagged streaks. The skin of the fruit is smooth, shiny and transparent. The shape of the fruits can be oblong, flat-rounded, flattened or reverse pear-shaped, weighing from 50 to 750 g, length up to 17 and width up to 12 cm. The pulp of the melon pear is juicy, aromatic and tender. Pepino fruits grown in temperate climates are usually seedless, while fruits ripened in the tropics sometimes contain seeds and sometimes not. Melon pear is propagated by seeds and cuttings.

Pepino fruits are high in iron, carotene, vitamins B1, B2 and PP, reducing sugars and pectins.

In the middle zone, melon pear is cultivated indoors, in a winter garden or in a heated greenhouse. In temperate climates, varieties Ramses and Consuelo are grown.

Physalis

- the largest genus of the Solanaceae family. People call it “earth cranberry” or “emerald berry.” In the wild, most species of this genus grow in South and Central America. Physalis are annual and perennial herbaceous plants with a woody stem at the bottom. A characteristic feature of the species is a shell-cover made of sepals fused around the fruit, similar to a paper Chinese lantern. Once the fruit is fully ripe, the calyx dries out and changes color. In total, the Physalis genus includes 124 species, but only five of them are cultivated:

• common physalis (Physalis alkekengi);
• Physalis ixocarpa;
• Peruvian physalis (Physalis peruviana);
• vegetable physalis (Physalis philadelphica);
• pubescent physalis, or strawberry physalis (Physalis pubescens).

The fruits of some types of physalis are eaten - for example, physalis vegetable, or glutenous, or Mexican, which is more often called the Mexican tomato or ground cherry. Its fruits resemble small tomatoes. There is also Physalis berry, the fruits of which are more modest in size than the fruits of Physalis vegetable, but they have a pleasant aroma and taste, similar to the taste of strawberries, pineapple and grapes. However, in the middle zone, physalis is grown more often as ornamental plants for the sake of “Chinese lanterns”, and vegetable and berry physalis can only be found on the plot of enthusiasts.

Physalis vulgaris, or Physalis Franchet, or Chinese lantern, is native to Japan. The species has been in cultivation since 1894. This is an ornamental perennial that winters in temperate climates and can withstand frosts down to -30 ºC. Every spring it grows back from its roots. The fruits of Physalis vulgaris in a bright red-orange shell are spectacular, but inedible due to the bitter taste.

Physalis vulgaris is grown in bright sun in fertile soil. The plant does not require formative pruning, but tall varieties should be tied up, and in order for the lanterns to have time to ripen before the cold weather, at the end of summer you need to pinch the tops of the plant's shoots. To prevent physalis from degenerating, once every 6-7 years its bush is divided and planted.

Cocona

Cocona (lat. Solanum sessiliflorium)- a fruit shrub native to the Amazon region of South America. Today it is cultivated in Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil and other countries of this continent.

In nature, the cocoon is a herbaceous shrub up to 2 m high with velvety oval leaves up to 45 cm long and up to 38 cm wide and large oval fruits up to 4 cm long and up to 6 cm wide. The unripe green fruits of the cocoons are covered with fluff, but as they ripen they become smooth and acquire a yellow, red or purple color. The skin of the fruit is bitter, under it there is a dense layer of cream-colored pulp, and under the pulp there is a jelly-like kernel with flat small seeds.

In our climate, cocoon is grown in a greenhouse or on a windowsill.

In cultivation you can also find edible nightshades such as naranjilla, sarah and sunberry, but these are rare plants that are grown indoors in temperate climates.

Nightshade bittersweet

- a plant of the genus Nightshade of the Solanaceae family, growing in the temperate and subtropical zone of the Old World in damp thickets of bushes, willows, along the banks of ponds, rivers, swamps and lakes. This is a perennial subshrub up to 180 cm high with a creeping rhizome, long, sinuous, angular, climbing and branched stems, woody in the lower part, and alternate, pointed oblong-ovate leaves with a heart-shaped or dicotyledonous base. The upper leaves may be dissected or tripartite. On the long peduncles of nightshade, paniculate inflorescences are formed from regular bisexual flowers of lilac, pink or white. The fruit of nightshade is a pendulous bright red shiny ellipsoidal berry up to 1 cm long.

Steroids and alkaloids were found in the roots of nightshade; the terrestrial organs also contain alkaloids and steroids - cholesterol, stigmasterol, campesterol, sitosterol and others. The leaves and seeds contain triterpenoids, steroids, alkaloids, flavonoids, higher fatty and phenolcarboxylic acids, and the flowers also contain steroids. The carotenoids beta-carotene, carotene, lycopene, steroids sitosterol, campesterol, stigmasterol and others were found in nightshade fruits. Bittersweet nightshade has diuretic, choleretic, diuretic, laxative, sedative, expectorant and astringent properties.

Bittersweet nightshade is an ornamental, medicinal, as well as poisonous and insecticidal plant. A decoction of nightshade leaves destroys caterpillars and their larvae. In folk medicine, young shoots of the plant are used for skin diseases - itchy inflammation and eczema; they are also used for bronchial asthma, colds, cystitis, diarrhea and menstrual irregularities. The leaves are used to treat whooping cough, dropsy and jaundice, and externally for rheumatism and scrofula. At the same time, flowering and fruiting nightshade is highly decorative and is used for vertical gardening in damp places.

Belladonna

Belladonna, or belladonna, or beauty, or crazy berry or mad cherry, or European belladonna, or belladonna belladonna (lat. Atropa belladonna) is a herbaceous perennial, a species of the genus Belladonna of the Solanaceae family. Belladonna in Italian means “beautiful woman” - Italian ladies in the old days dripped belladonna juice into their eyes to give them shine and expressiveness. Belladonna berries were rubbed on the cheeks to give them a natural blush. And the belladonna was called the mad berry because the atropine it contained brought a person into a state of strong excitement.

In the wild, belladonna is distributed in hornbeam, oak, beech and fir forests of Europe, North Africa, the Caucasus, Crimea, Asia Minor and the mountainous regions of Western Ukraine. The plant prefers fertile forest soils or light humus soils on the edges, clearings or along river banks. The plant is included in the Red Book of Ukraine (with the exception of Ternopil and Lviv regions), Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia.

In the first year of growth, belladonna develops a branched taproot and stem, reaching a height of 60-90 cm, and from the second year the plant develops a thickened rhizome with numerous branched roots extending from it. The stems of belladonna are green or dark purple, straight, branched, succulent, thick, with dimly defined edges, up to 200 cm high, heavily pubescent with glandular hairs in the upper part. The leaves are petiolate, dense, ovate, pointed and entire. The upper leaves are arranged in pairs, the lower leaves alternately. The upper part of the leaf blade is green or brownish-green, the lower side is lighter. Single or paired drooping bell-shaped flowers of belladonna emerge from the axils of the upper leaves. The color of the flowers is dirty purple or yellow; flowering begins in May and lasts until late autumn. The fruit of belladonna is a shiny, flattened, bilocular dark purple, almost black berry, reminiscent of a small cherry, containing many angular or kidney-shaped seeds. Fruit ripening begins in July.

The ground organs of belladonna contain oxycoumarins and flavonoids. All parts of the plant are poisonous because they contain alkaloids of the atropine group, which can cause severe poisoning. In addition to atropine, belladonna contains hyoscine, hyoscyamine, belladonnan and other dangerous substances. The maximum content of alkaloids in the leaves is observed during the period of budding and flowering, and in all organs - in the phase of seed formation. All kinds of medicines are made from belladonna - suppositories, tablets, drops... Belladonna preparations are used for stomach and duodenal ulcers, spasms of smooth muscles of the abdominal cavity, renal and biliary colic, anal fissures, in the treatment of fundus vessels, bronchial asthma and other diseases . However, they should only be taken as prescribed by a doctor.

Signs of mild belladonna poisoning may appear within 10-20 minutes: dryness and burning appear in the mouth and throat, it becomes difficult to swallow, the heartbeat quickens, the voice becomes hoarse, the pupils dilate and stop responding to light, vision is impaired, photophobia occurs, the skin becomes dry and blushes, excitement occurs, delusions and hallucinations appear. In case of severe poisoning, there is a complete loss of orientation, strong mental and motor agitation occurs, convulsions, shortness of breath, a sharp increase in temperature, bluing of the mucous membranes may appear, blood pressure drops and there is a threat of death from vascular insufficiency and paralysis of the respiratory center. At the first symptoms of belladonna poisoning, you must call an ambulance.

Belladonna was introduced into cultivation precisely for the sake of medicinal raw materials, the quality of which, when grown on plantations, is much higher than that of wild belladonna. The plant has a long growing season - from 125 to 145 days, depending on growing conditions. Belladonna is planted in low-lying areas with good humidity, provided that groundwater lies at a depth of at least 2 m from the surface. The soil must be fertile, light or medium textured, permeable to air and water. The best precursors for belladonna are vegetable, industrial and winter crops.

Henbane

is a herbaceous biennial that can be found in nature in northern Africa, Asia Minor, Western and Central Asia, the Caucasus, China, India and almost all of Europe.

The height of henbane reaches from 20 to 115 cm. It has an unpleasant odor, and the plant is covered with sticky fluff. In the first year of growth, only a rosette of soft, pointed elliptical petiolate leaves, notched-pinnate or with large teeth, is formed, and thick, erect, branched stems appear the next year. The root of the plant has a thick root collar, vertical, branched and wrinkled, so soft that sometimes it is almost spongy. The leaves on the stems are alternate, sessile, oblong-lanceolate, incised or notched-lobed. The upper side of the leaf blade is dark green, the lower side is lighter, grayish. Rosette leaves have already died off by the time leaves form on the stems. Sessile dirty yellow or whitish flowers with a purplish-violet funnel-shaped corolla on the inside are located at the ends of the stems. Henbane blooms in June-July. The fruit is a two-cavity capsule, shaped like a jug and closed with a hemispherical lid. The box contains numerous brown-gray or dark brown seeds of a round or kidney-shaped, slightly flattened shape.

All parts of henbane are poisonous because they contain potent alkaloids scopolamine, atropine, and hyoscyamine. The seeds of the plant contain up to 34% fatty light yellow oil, which contains oleic and linoleic acids, as well as unsaturated acids. In addition, henbane contains resinous and protein substances, gum, glycosides, sugar and mineral salts. Henbane alkaloids have an antispasmodic effect on smooth muscles, increase intraocular pressure, dilate pupils, suppress gland secretion, and increase heart rate. Alkaloids also have an effect on the central nervous system - scopolamine reduces its excitability, and hyoscyamine increases it. Henbane preparations are used for stomach and duodenal ulcers, intestinal spasms, bronchial asthma, biliary tract diseases, neuralgia, colds, coughs, and pleurisy. Aeron tablets based on henbane provide relief from attacks of seasickness and are also prescribed for its prevention. Henbane preparations are taken only as prescribed by a doctor. Poisoning with henbane produces the same symptoms as poisoning with belladonna.

Henbane is grown on fertile loose soils of neutral reaction. It is best to sow it in black fallow or after winter crops that were sown in black fallow. Before sowing, black henbane seeds are stratified.

Datura

Datura common, or stinking dope (lat. Datura stramonium) is a common plant in Europe belonging to the genus Datura (Datura). The Latin name for Datura was assigned by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, and it is translated from ancient Greek as “crazy nightshade,” although there is an assumption that the specific epithet is derived from the French word stramoine and means “smelly weed.” In Russian, the following names have been invented for dope: dope potion, div-tree, thistle, dope-herb, dope-grass. Datura vulgaris was first described by Bernardino de Sahagún from the words of the Aztecs, who were well acquainted with its poisonous effect.

Datura is a herbaceous annual up to 1.5 m high with a powerful and branched tap root, erect, glabrous, forked stems and petiolate, alternate, entire, ovate, serrated leaves with a pointed apex. The upper side of the leaf blade is dark green, the lower side is lighter. Datura flowers are single, large, axillary or apical, white and intoxicatingly fragrant, with a funnel-folded corolla. Flowering begins in June-August. The fruit of Datura vulgare is a four-locular capsule with two doors, covered with thorns. As soon as the numerous matte black kidney-shaped seeds ripen, the capsule cracks.

All organs of the plant are very poisonous due to the daturine alkaloids they contain, which have an atropine-like effect. The seeds of the plant are especially dangerous in this regard. However, the leaves, seeds and shoot tips of Datura vulgaris are raw materials for the manufacture of medicines that have a calming effect on the central nervous system, as well as antispasmodic and analgesic effects for diseases of the biliary tract, gastrointestinal tract and upper respiratory tract. You should take Datura vulgaris preparations only as prescribed by a doctor, otherwise poisoning is possible, the signs of which we described in the section on belladonna.

Datura is grown on loose, nutrient-rich soils fertilized with ash. The plant is unpretentious to growing conditions.

Mandrake

- a genus of herbaceous perennials growing in Central and Western Asia, the Himalayas and the Mediterranean. Mandrake is also called witch's root, Adam's head, sleeping potion and devil's apple. Like many nightshade crops, mandrake is poisonous. Its root vaguely resembles a human figure, like the root of ginseng, and therefore this plant is overgrown with legends attributing magical powers to it. The leaves of the plant are large, short-petioled, entire, oval or lanceolate, curly, up to 80 cm long - collected in a rosette with a diameter of 1-2 meters or more. Mandrake does not form stems, and its roots, dark brown on the outside and white on the inside, reach a length of one meter and contain a large amount of starch and tropane alkaloids - scopolamine and geoscyamine. Mandrake flowers are single, bell-shaped, up to 5 cm in diameter, purple, blue or white with green. The fruit of the plant is a yellow spherical berry with an apple aroma.

Mandrake fruits should not be eaten, as severe side effects and even death are possible. In modern official medicine, mandrake and preparations made from it are no longer used, but in folk medicine, mandrake root is still used: fresh juice - for rheumatism and gout, dried root - as an antispasmodic and analgesic for neuralgic and joint pain, as well as for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, and freshly grated and mixed with honey and milk, the root is applied to tumors and edema. To relieve pain from gout and rheumatism, rub with mandrake oil mixed with fat.

Tobacco

Belongs to the genus of annual and perennial plants of the Solanaceae family. Until the 16th century, tobacco grew only in South and North America, but in 1556 tobacco seeds came from Brazil to France and were sprouted in the vicinity of Angoulême, and in 1560 tobacco was grown at the court of Philip II as an ornamental plant. Snuff soon became fashionable in Europe, and after 1565 the British spread the fashion to smoking it. In 1612, the first crop of Virginia tobacco was grown in the English colony of Jamestown. Within a few years, tobacco became one of the main exports of the state of Virginia and was used by the colonists as currency in barter. Today, this crop is grown in many countries, and the dried leaves of certain species are used for smoking.

The root of tobacco is long, taproot, reaching a length of two meters. The stem is branched, round in cross-section, straight, the leaves are petiolate, large, entire and pointed, in many species with lionfish. Red, pink or white flowers are collected in corymbose or paniculate inflorescences. The tobacco fruit is a multi-seeded capsule that cracks when ripe. Dark brown oval tobacco seeds have a high germination rate.

Tobacco leaves contain antibacterial substances, so tobacco dust is often used to treat plants against diseases and pests. In folk medicine, there are many recipes from tobacco for the treatment of external and internal diseases: tobacco tincture is used for cancerous tumors and scabies, the juice is used to treat sore throat and malaria. Cut tobacco leaves repel moths.

Broadleaf Maryland and Virginia tobaccos, as well as common shag, are most often grown in cultivation. Maiden tobacco is less commonly cultivated. Tobacco is sown after black fallow or after winter crops grown after black fallow, in loose soil - preferably chernozem, loam, sandy loam or loamy-marly soil. You cannot plant tobacco after beets and nightshades.

Ornamental nightshade plants

Brugmansia

- a genus of the Solanaceae family, isolated from the Datura genus. It includes shrubs and small trees. The most common in cultivation are Brugmansia arborescens, or arboreal, and Brugmansia snow-white, or woody dope, or angel's trumpets. Both species are common in the tropics and subtropics of South America - in Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Argentina, Peru, the West Indies, and as a cultivated plant they are grown all over the world in greenhouses, indoors and in open ground.

The fibrous roots of Brugmansia form an expanding woody layer at the surface, but the straight tap roots go deep, so when dividing the roots, part of the upper layer has to be chopped with an ax. Brugmansia stems are covered with bark, since in the subtropics lignification of the ground part occurs very quickly. The leaves of the plant are oval, barely pubescent, located on petioles up to 13 cm long. Tubular drooping white, yellow or pink flowers up to 25 cm long and up to 20 cm in diameter exude an intoxicating aroma that intensifies in the evening. In the subtropics, Brugmansia blooms twice: the first time in late August or early September, the second time in October or November. After the second flowering, the plant again forms buds, but they no longer have time to open and die.

In temperate climates, Brugmansia is grown as an ornamental plant, and in Latin America it is used to treat tumors, abscesses, asthma, rheumatism, arthrosis and eye infections. Brugmansia alba was used by Chilean, Colombian and Peruvian Indians for medicinal purposes, and before Columbus, its hallucinogenic properties were used for religious ceremonies.

You should know that Brugmansia, like most nightshade crops, is poisonous.

Petunia

- a genus of subshrubs or herbaceous perennials of the Solanaceae family, reaching a height of 10 cm to 1 m. Petunia is native to South America, in particular Brazil. It can be found naturally in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, and only one species of plant grows in North America. According to various sources, there are from 15 to 40 plant species. Petunia has been in cultivation since the 18th century. Hybrid plant varieties that appeared more than a hundred years ago are bred as garden, potted and balcony annuals. Petunia has become popular thanks to its large and bright flowers of various colors.

Petunia stems are erect or creeping, forming shoots of the second and third order. Depending on the variety, they can reach a height of 30 to 70 cm. The shoots of petunia are green, round, pubescent with glandular hair. The leaves are alternate, sessile, different in shape and size, entire and also pubescent. The flowers are most often large, solitary, simple or double, with a funnel-shaped corolla, located on short stalks in the leaf axils. The petunia fruit is a bivalve capsule that cracks when ripe and releases small seeds.

Hybrid petunia varieties are divided into four groups:

• large-flowered petunias, in which the flower diameter reaches 10 cm;
• multi-flowered petunias - plants with small flowers up to 5 cm in diameter;
• petunias are low-growing, dwarf, from 15 to 30 cm in height;
• Ampelous petunias, which include cascading petunias, calibrachoa and surfinia.

Petunias are heat-loving and even drought-resistant plants, so they love sunny places, and in the shade their shoots stretch out, forming a large number of leaves and few flowers. The soil for the plant will need fertile soil - sandy loam or loamy. To grow petunias on the balcony, it is best to use a mixture of coarse river sand, peat, turf and deciduous soil in a ratio of 1:1:2:2. Protect plants from wind and rain, which can easily damage delicate petunia flowers.

Sweet tobacco is also a nightshade plant. It should be said that this is the name given to two types of tobacco - Sander tobacco (lat. Nicotiana x sanderae) and winged tobacco, or Athenian tobacco (lat. Nicotiana alata). In America, under natural conditions, fragrant tobacco is a perennial plant, but in our climate it is cultivated as an annual. These are erect bushes from 40 to 150 cm in height with large dark green elliptical leaves and funnel-shaped star-shaped fragrant flowers of white, yellow or green color. There are hybrid varieties with carmine-colored flowers, but they are odorless. Fragrant tobacco blooms all summer. The fruit of the plant is an egg-shaped polyspermous capsule with very small seeds that remain viable for up to 8 years.

Fragrant tobacco is a heat-loving and light-loving plant that does not tolerate frost and prefers well-fertilized and moist loamy soils. The best plant varieties are Winged, Night Fire, Green Light, Pleasure, Aroma Green, Mazhu Noir and hybrids Dolce Vita and Ringing Bell. Recently, low-growing hybrids of fragrant tobacco have begun to appear for growing on window sills and balconies, characterized by long and abundant flowering.

Decorative nightshade

Or coral bush, or Cuban cherry- a species of the genus Nightshade, native to South America and spreading to other warm climates. In Australia, this type of nightshade has become a weed.

False pepper nightshade is an evergreen shrub from 30 to 150 cm in height with smooth stems, short-petioled, slightly wavy lanceolate leaves up to 10 cm long and small white single or clustered flowers. The fruit is a red or yellow berry with a diameter of 1.5-2 cm. The bush becomes decorative at the stage of fruit ripening: from light green they become yellow, then orange and, finally, bright red. Ripening occurs throughout the winter, and the bright berries among the green leaves look very impressive.

Dwarf forms of false pepper nightshade Nana and Tom Tum are very popular in indoor culture.

Jasmine nightshade (lat. Solanum jasminoides)- an evergreen climbing shrub from 2 to 4 m high with thin and bare twig-like shoots, on the upper part of which there are entire simple, bare, elongated oval leaves, and on the lower part of the shoots shiny, sometimes trifoliate, leaves are formed, with a larger middle lobe. Light blue flowers of nightshade jasmine, up to 2 cm in diameter, are collected in apical paniculate inflorescences. The fruit is a bright red berry with a diameter of about 1.5 cm. Abundant flowering continues from February to October. There are cultivated forms of the species with variegated leaves.

Other types of nightshade are also grown in cultivation - Wendlanda, giant, Zeaforta, curly, pepper, or pepper-shaped, and all of them are highly ornamental plants.

Heat-loving nightshade vegetable plants - peppers, eggplants, tomatoes - are usually grown through seedlings. Before sowing, the seeds are treated against harmful microflora by immersion for 20-30 minutes in a one percent solution of potassium permanganate, after which they are washed in running water. You can also disinfect the seeds by placing them for 5-10 minutes in a warm (38-45 ºC) two to three percent solution of hydrogen peroxide or soaking them in a solution of trace elements. Some gardeners use stratification of sprouted seeds for 24 hours in the refrigerator.

It is better to sow seeds with sprouts not exceeding the length of the seeds - in this case you will be confident in the viability of the seed.

Potatoes are planted as tubers, which are also germinated and disinfected before planting. Read about how to prepare tubers for planting in the article posted on our website.

The optimal growth temperature for nightshade crops such as peppers, tomatoes and eggplants is 25 ºC. Potatoes need 14-18 ºC for growth and development. At zero temperatures, the development of nightshades stops. As for lighting, nightshade crops especially need good light during the seedling period and at the stage of fruit ripening. Lack of light helps reduce the color intensity and taste of fruits.

Seedlings are planted in areas protected from the wind, warmed by the sun and fertilized with manure a year before planting. The soil is preferably light, loose, warm, permeable to water and air and containing humus. Before planting seedlings, the area is dug up, fertilized with decomposed compost or humus.

Properties of nightshade plants

The nightshade family is a large group of plants that includes beautiful flowers and tasty vegetables, as well as medicinal plants. Nightshade crops are mostly poisonous, which is why people have been wary of eating tomatoes and potatoes for a very long time. Many farmers destroyed nightshades like weeds because there were cases of animals being poisoned by them. Due to toxic substances, tomatoes were once called “cancer apples”, and tobacco is still being fought in many countries. However, today tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and eggplants are the main vegetables that are included in the daily diet of so many people.

As for the medicinal properties of nightshade plants, the poisonous alkaloids of the atropine group they contain can both kill and cure many diseases. Nicotine and anabasine, extracted from tobacco, are used as a narcotic drug and for the production of insecticides. Hot peppers, which contain the alkaloid-like amide kamsaicin, are used as skin irritants, and the glucoalkaloid solanine, which is part of some types of nightshade, is used as an anti-cold and anti-rheumatic agent.

5 5 1 4.8 Rating 4.80 (5 votes)

After this article they usually read