| MadSci Network: Botany |
The USDA Plants Database - http://plants.usda.gov/ - is a good place to find info on wild plants in the USA. It says Jimson weed (Datura stramonium) is found throughout the US but is introduced, not native. However, this is in disagreement. Certainly, some Datura species were native to North America because native Americans used its hallucinogenic properties in ceremonies. The poisonous nature of jimson weed was known since the late 17th century, when British soldiers either died or suffered hallucinations, depending on the story, after eating the plant in the colony of Jamestown--hence the name "Jamestown weed." All parts seem to be poisonous but the seeds and leaves are most often used. Locoweed is applied to a different plant, Astragalus whitneyi, which is native in the western USA. Contrary to what you might think given the popularity of the tomato in Italian cooking, the tomato originated in South America. It was an inportant food crop in central America as far back as the 15th century. Northern Europeans and Americans were very slow to warm to the tomato and for a long time considered it poisonous like some other members of the Nightshade family. Thomas Jefferson first planted tomatoes in his gardens at Monticello in 1781. Others started growing them and they became better known. Tomato popularity in the USA increased dramatically between 1828 and 1858. Actually it is the rhubarb leaf petiole that is edible, not the stem. As you say, the leaf blade is poisonous. People still are sometimes poisoned when they mistakenly eat the rhubarb leaf blade. Who first discovered that the leaf petiole was safe to eat is probably lost in antiquity. Rhubarb was originally cultivated in Asia at least 2,000 years ago for its medicinal properties. References USDA Jimsonweed Jamestown weed Jimsonweed Astragalus whitneyi The Tomato: A Brief History Rhubarb Compendium
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