Kitchen Garden Forum

One of the plotters on our site has found this plant growing amongst his brassicas. He's not sure whether it is a weed or has come from some seed that had found its way into the brassica seed packet. Has anyone any idea what it is?

I think I've answered my own question - it looks like a thorn apple
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=536

VERY POISONOUS ! Contact and inform the seed company as soon as you can. Cheers, Tony.

H Tony,
I've passed the information on to the plot holder including the bit about it being poisonous but the plot holder doesn't know whether it's just grown as a weed.

It is "naturalised" in the UK as a weed, I've seen it thus just the once in my life.

Blimey, I had three of these growing in my garden border. I yanked them out as they were so big and ugly! No idea where they came from.

They belong to the datura family which are really gorgeous plants so they must be the black sheep of the family - although datura are poisonous too the flowers are beautiful.

I thought the seeds arrived in the UK via bird food?
Is the seed poisonous to birds or not?
They eat Yew without harm, so perhaps that's the source.
Undigested seed in bird droppings.

I read that too Peter and wondered?

They also suggested a 2 inch mulch to bury any other seeds and prevent further problems.

glallotments wrote:They belong to the datura family which are really gorgeous plants so they must be the black sheep of the family - although datura are poisonous too the flowers are beautiful.

It's of the Datura genus, which in turn is in the Solanum family, most members of which are poisonous (tomatoes, potatoes) if we ate the wrong bits. The flowers of this are spectacular, too, but looking at how well on the fruits are, they've long gone. Our back gardens can be a minefield of poisonous plants (rhubarb, foxglove, potato, monkshood, laburnum) and I don't think another one on the list ought to bother anyone too much.