The Solanaceae is a family of flowering plants, many of which are edible, while others are considered poisonous.

The family is informally known as the nightshade or potato family.

The family includes the Datura or Jimson weed, eggplant, mandrake, deadly nightshade or belladonna, capsicum (paprika, chile pepper), potato, tobacco, tomato, and petunia.

The most important species of this family for the global diet is the potato.

The Solanaceae are known for possessing a diverse range of alkaloidal glucosides, or simply alkaloids.

As far as humans are concerned, these alkaloids can be desirable, toxic, or both, though they presumably evolved because they reduced the tendency of animals to eat the plants..

For more information about the topic Deadly nightshade and related plants, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:

Spinach — Spinach is a flowering plant native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant (rarely biennial), which grows to a height of up to one ...  > read more

Tomato — The tomato is a short-lived perennial plant, grown as an annual plant, typically growing to 1-3 m tall, with a weakly woody stem that usually ...  > read more

Flowering plant — The flowering plants (also called angiosperms) are the dominant and most familiar group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms ...  > read more

Potato — The potato is a perennial plant of the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family, grown for its starchy tuber. Potato plants have a low-growing habit and ...  > read more

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