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Edible nightshades?

So, this may be known by pretty much everyone else in the world, but I decided to leave a few of my ground cherries in the husks to ripen more off the plant, and WOW! It seems like the flavor increased tenfold. I'd just been eating them as the fell from the plant, but no more.
 
SpeakPolish said:
I have an actual bittersweet nightshade that is a weed. I plan on letting it live so I can plant the seeds next year. Its actually pretty cool. I might hybridize it with a tomato or a potato just to see the outcome
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Is that possible? 
 
So I left a few suckers from my goji in a one gallon pot (the ones I mostly care for are sharing a pot with a pepper) and I noticed a flower and some buds today.

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I'm also getting ground cherries daily by watering when it wilts and shaking the plant at the end of the day.
 
I've got some pretty sweet Black Nightshade growing in my yard here that came with the house.. Pretty sure these are S. ptychanthum (Eastern Black Nightshade). I dried small number of these this year for seed. They really love to spread out.. 
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Dane said:
Last year I grew Solanum caripense, Solanum quitoense, and Solanum muricatum. Favorite of the 3 was the quitoense. Plant just looks wicked.
The aniomalum looks interesting. Wondering if it has any cross compatibility with capsicum.
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Did you grow the Muricatum from seed or a clone?
Also, where did your production go wrong that you weren't able to achieve ripe fruit? I read they do well in greenhouses.
 
Not going to lie, I haven't yet, but I'm resolved to this year. I used to eat them here and there when I was a kid.. Then I started reading field guides and got scared straight. From the sounds of it, the Black Nightshades are all fairly similar. I'd love to compare the different varieties too though. 
I'm soaking one of the berries now to get some seed to start, I'm sure there's more than enough to go around if you want to try some out.
 
I'm growing the schwartzbeeren again this year. My family has ate them way longer than any of us have been here. I will probably just grow those. I have a few extra seeds if your interested
 
I wish I had the actual genetics my great grandmother grew. These came from another person of Volga German decent, Samuel Brungardt. It is originally from Ellis county Kansas. My family is from Ness City, which is in Ness County Kansas.
 
Walchit said:
I wish I had the actual genetics my great grandmother grew. These came from another person of Volga German decent, Samuel Brungardt. It is originally from Ellis county Kansas. My family is from Ness City, which is in Ness County Kansas.
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Seems like they are still sorting out the different species of these, maybe you could find someone working on it that is profiling them. Most of the species indicators seem to be fruit evident. Shiny vs. buff, 5-7 vs 5-10, raceme vs. cluster. etc. I would think a better species key isn't long off if it doesn't already exist. 
 
The volga germans brought these from Russia when they immigrated here. Hopefully they are noticeably different than the other ones you are growing.
 
Walchit said:
The berries look identical to the ones in your picture from what I can tell. I think deadly nightshade looks the same too though.
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The differences in the Black Nightshades are pretty subtle. I'm no expert on them, but some of the main features of note when trying to separate them are:
Reflexed calyx or not,
Calyx length in proportion to berry, 
Berry shiny or buff,
Number and arrangement of berries..
I'd be surprised if you couldn't cross most of them too.

Deadly Nightshade (Atropa belladonna) fruits occur singly, not in groups.. Best way to to avoid them. There are other differences, but that's the easiest way to differentiate. Most of the poisonings attributed to the ripe berries of the "Solanum nigrum complex" seem to come back to Atropa belladonna.
Common names can kill you. 
 
CraftyFox said:
Seems like they are still sorting out the different species of these, maybe you could find someone working on it that is profiling them. Most of the species indicators seem to be fruit evident. Shiny vs. buff, 5-7 vs 5-10, raceme vs. cluster. etc. I would think a better species key isn't long off if it doesn't already exist. 
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Some of these they are using anther length to identify. Sandra Knapp is one of the most knowledgeable persons on the planet when it comes to Solanums.  If you are really interested,I would contact her with photos. 
 
Dane said:
Last year I grew Solanum caripense, Solanum quitoense, and Solanum muricatum. Favorite of the 3 was the quitoense. Plant just looks wicked.
The aniomalum looks interesting. Wondering if it has any cross compatibility with capsicum.
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That would be an intergeneric hybrid. It's possible but ridiculously rare. It could be a cool project though. T.anomalum is a fun one to grow by itself even.
 
Pr0digal_son said:
 
Some of these they are using anther length to identify. Sandra Knapp is one of the most knowledgeable persons on the planet when it comes to Solanums.  If you are really interested,I would contact her with photos. 
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Thanks!! I'll have to look her up!
Is there a workable key available that includes the anther length? 
 
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