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10-11-2005, 02:37 PM

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:
In article ,
Jaques d'Alltrades writes:
| The message
| from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:
|
| Perhaps. Most of the Physalis are edible, but I am not sure whether
| all are. The genus is unusual among the Solanaceae in that respect.
|
| Try the fruit of the common or garden Chinese lantern and watch your
| face in the mirror as you do so...

As with black nightshade, there are conflicting reports of its
edibility. In the case of black nightshade, there are reliable
claims that at least some strains, grown under at least some
conditions, are poisonous when ripe.

You've said this before, and I've yet to see any evidence of it, and Kew
confirms without any caveat that they are edible and widely eaten.

While you are correct that it is widely eaten, it is a mistake
to think that means that a plant is necessarily not poisonous.
It is quite common for some strains to contain a negligible
quantity of toxin, and others to contain a dangerous amount,
and equally common for different conditions to cause the same
effect.

I've been noshing them since I discovered (some time in the '60s) that
they were not poisonous, and from then have eaten them from the north of
Scotland to Dartmoor without ever having suffered any ill-effects.

IME such variation of toxicity in a species is restricted to fungi.

Note - *IME*.

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