Edit: looking at all the elaborate replies, I cannot help being amazed. Here I thought the Fedi is overrepresented by computer geeks (such as yours truly) but obviously they've got NOTHING on the biologically inclined here! ๐Ÿฅฐ๐Ÿ˜

If poisonous mushrooms are poisonous because it is advantageous for the survival of the specific species, are non poisonous mushroom relatively speaking weaker, less well equipped for the furthering of their species? I suppose that the ability to survive and further a species is multifaceted and that being poisonous or the lack thereof is just one of many parameters?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] 5 points 2 days ago (5 children)

they're pretty interesting

from poison that disappears the moment the fruit is ripe, to attracting wasps that kill insects, to starving caterpillars that start eating them.

Have you ever touched a tomato plant? The smell is amazing. It's also sticky.

They're closely related to potato plants ( nightshade ) and if you didn't know, potatoe plants make "tomatoes" if you let them flower.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
  • [โ€“] 4 points 2 days ago

    Wait but I've eaten green tomatoes? Are they only safe when they're fried? Or is it more of a mildly sore tummy situation?

    Feel free to elaborate on those insect interactions if you feel like it, those sound useful as a gardener.

  • source
  • parent
  • [โ€“] 3 points 2 days ago

    Hold the fucking phone

    I've been growing both these plants for years. And i had no idea about this. Potatoes growing tomatoes? I might need to see this for myself. I assume they're anaemic little things, but still.

    Love the smell of toms of course, i didnt know that was a defense mechanism, i thought they just kinda had that smell.

  • source
  • parent
  • [โ€“] 3 points 2 days ago (2 children)

    Another fun fact about tomatoes is that since they're in the nightshade family like tobacco, they contain a small amount of nicotine.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments