Is this a pepper plant?

[Trimurtisan]

Eggplant is in the same Solanaceae or nightshade family with tomatoes so it makes sense that the blossoms are similar. The leaves of eggplants are more pleasantly fuzzy than the scratchy, beard-like hair on tomato leaves, however.

My eggplant leaf is actually one of my favorite to run my hand across in the mornings.

 

[katiebrock]

Interesting! Now for the real question: I know the leaves can be toxic to ducks, but could they eat the little fruits? I know the some wild birds do. I am thinking a bird pooped in my pot, and that is how it got there!

 

[Trimurtisan]

Interesting! Now for the real question: I know the leaves can be toxic to ducks, but could they eat the little fruits? I know the some wild birds do. I am thinking a bird pooped in my pot, and that is how it got there!

I'd be cautious till you know what it is. The are a lot of plants in the nightshade family, and it can be easy to mistake an edible plant from a toxic plant if you are not familiar with them.

All nightshade plants contain compounds called alkaloids. One alkaloid found in nightshade vegetables, solanine, may be toxic in large quantities or in a green potato. There’s no evidence solanine is harmful in typical food amounts. And solanine isn’t only found in nightshades—blueberries, huckleberries, and artichokes contain it, too.

In green tomatoes, there is still a higher concentration of solanine, than ripe tomatoes.

If it's an eggplant though, you should be fine using green fruit. However the rest of the plant is indeed toxic.

Take belladonna for example. It does have medical uses, and making a tea from it has been used as a mild sedative for a long time. However, it can kill you do to the alkaloids found in it. It's also in the nightshade family.

I would not feed your ducks anything till you are 100% sure, and maybe then still not. Personally I'd just enjoy it for the beauty.

 

[katiebrock]

I'd be cautious till you know what it is. The are a lot of plants in the nightshade family, and it can be easy to mistake an edible plant from a toxic plant if you are not familiar with them.

All nightshade plants contain compounds called alkaloids. One alkaloid found in nightshade vegetables, solanine, may be toxic in large quantities or in a green potato. There’s no evidence solanine is harmful in typical food amounts. And solanine isn’t only found in nightshades—blueberries, huckleberries, and artichokes contain it, too.

In green tomatoes, there is still a higher concentration of solanine, than ripe tomatoes.

If it's an eggplant though, you should be fine using green fruit. However the rest of the plant is indeed toxic.

Take belladonna for example. It does have medical uses, and making a tea from it has been used as a mild sedative for a long time. However, it can kill you do to the alkaloids found in it. It's also in the nightshade family.

I would not feed your ducks anything till you are 100% sure, and maybe then still not. Personally I'd just enjoy it for the beauty.

Thanks for the info!

 

[Trimurtisan]

Thanks for the info!

No worries! Another thing to take in too consideration is that not all birds digestive systems are created equally. There is a chance the plant was deposited via flying poo, but it doesn't mean it's safe for all birds. I'm no expert on the subject, so take that with a grain of salt.

A good example would vultures. Their digestive tract has such a high acid content that they can literally eat just about anything. Including but not limited to anthrax, botulism, rabies, and a bunch of other stuff. They actually have such a high acid content, there poop is sterile. In theory you could eat a big piping spoonful of it.

So yes, the plant could have been deposited by a bird, but I still wouldn't use that as much of a deciding factor as far as your use of the plant.

 

[Bettyboop7499]

Its not a pepper or tomato (that I've ever seen) but potentially an eggplant..it does look like a Horse Nettle but without the "nettles" that could be because it is from the nightshade family. Eggplants and Horse Nettle both have White to purple flowers?? I'm am very curious of what this turns into please keep us posted!