love apple plants are a raw material in home vegetable garden With their typical leaves , staunch , prime and of form , hopeful red fruit , Lycopersicon esculentum plants are easy to key . Or are they ? There are actually several other plants that can be mistaken for tomato plant , some of which are toxic As a gardener , it ’s important to properly identify plants before have them or allowing others to do so .
Here are 6 plants that often get jumble with tomato plants
1. Horse Nettle
The horse nettle ( Solanum carolinense ) looks almost identical to a tomato plant flora . It has prickly stems and leave , and produce small yellowed fruits that resemble cherry tomatoes . However , all parts of the horse cavalry nettle plant are poisonous . take any part can cause symptoms like nausea , abdominal pain , and neurological issues . Horse nettle is consider an invasive mourning band in many region . If found , it should be removed and put away of properly .
2. Litchi Tomato
At first glance , litchi tomato plants ( Solanum sisymbriifolium ) look just like regular tomato plants . They have similarly shaped leave of absence , stems , flowers and yield . However , litchi tomatoes can be identified by the little thorns on the stems and undersides of leaves . The fruits are red and cherry tomato plant - sized , but safe to eat when whole ripe . Litchi tomato is not toxic like horse nettle , so no need to remove it from your garden !
3. Garden Huckleberry
Garden huckleberry ( Solanum scabrum ) is a nightshade that resembles tomato plant plants , with slightly straighter leave-taking and brighter stem / leaves . The greenish Charles Edward Berry - same fruits could be err for unripe cerise tomatoes . However , garden huckleberry fruits are toxicant , as are other component of the flora . It ’s expert not to have this in your edible garden .
4. Black Nightshade
Black nightshade ( Solanum nigrum ) is another lookalike . When unripened , the green cherry red - love apple - like fruits of black nightshade can be confused with unripe tomato . But when ripe , they turn a dark purple . The leaves are also straighter than tomato plant plant pull up stakes . As with other nightshades , black nightshade is toxic and should not be absorb .
5. Red Soda Apple
Red soda Malus pumila ( Solanum capsicoides ) is a prickly perennial plant that resemble tomato plants in form and yield frame / coloration . They produce small cherry global fruit that could be mistaken for cerise tomatoes based on appearance . However , red soda apple is a nightshade containing solanine and other toxic alkaloids . Stems are one way to secernate them , as they contain sharp spike heel .
6. Potato
While not a lookalike in the traditional sense , murphy plant bear a potent resemblance to tomato plant industrial plant above ground . Leaves , stem and flowers appear very exchangeable . Of of course , potato produce tuberous root rather than fruits . But an inexperient nurseryman could see spud flowers and assume the plant life is a tomato . but digging around the base is an comfortable way to identify white potato versus tomato plant .
Proper plant identification is important for any nurseryman . Many toxic lookalikes can easily be mistaken for edible plants like tomatoes . Take sentence to carefully examine unknown flora , particularly their fruits , flowers , stem and leaves . If timid , do n’t absorb any part until convinced identification can be made . With a small cognition , tomato plant can be positively differentiated from common lookalike species .
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FAQ
What plant look like a tomato plant ?
Are there poisonous plants that look like tomatoes ?
What is the nightshade that look like a tomato plant ?
What are the little green tomato looking plants ?
