Ripley's Believe It or Not by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for May 19, 2014
May 18, 2014
May 20, 2014
Transcript:
The potato plant is in the same family as the deadly nightshade- green potatoes and their leaves and stems contain the same poison! Pop's pop! Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen, is also the father of soda- he invented sparkling mineral water in 1767. Choo!! Marine iguanas sneeze more than any other animal- that's how they expel excess salt!
More From Ripley's Believe It or Not
Yeah yeah….deadly nightshade and potatoes….
but also tomatoes and eggplants and peppers, hot and sweet…and tobacco, and petunias…and dozens… no hundreds of others…
All in Solanaceae, the huge, diverse “nightshade family”… many sharing various toxic, and/or psychotropic alkaloids, in varying degrees…belladonna, nicotine, capsaicin, atropine… many more…
Which is why you should cut away or peel any green parts of a potato, and never eat tobacco, or make salads with the leaves of your tomato plants.
And why tomatoes aren’t any more to be called “fruit” than their closest relatives, peppers and eggplants.