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What is this plant? The little marble sized yellow fruit (tomatoes?) grows on a vine and close to the ground. Is it edible?

I found it near an abandoned nursery in Roanoke, Virginia, where other tomatoes thrive wildly.

enter image description here

The picture is sourced from my facebook page. It's available for public viewing.

J. Musser
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James McMahon
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    Your link dead ended. Do you have to have an account to view anything on facebook? I quit a while ago, could that be why? Please post pictures right on this site. Do you know what the plant was like at this nursery? – stormy Oct 14 '16 at 01:17
  • I'm on Facebook and I can't access it either - the link's not working, broken or its not registered as public – Bamboo Oct 14 '16 at 01:19
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    Please [edit] your post to include the image; instructions are [here](http://meta.diy.stackexchange.com/questions/523/how-can-i-add-an-image-to-a-question-answer) on our sister site. Without seeing the plant, there's not much we can do to help you. – Niall C. Oct 14 '16 at 02:28
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    A good description of location (part of the world), plant habit, leave form, trunk, fruits and flower could be enough. But as you see, a picture worths 1000 words. – Giacomo Catenazzi Oct 14 '16 at 10:14
  • Even after your edit I cannot see the image without a facebook account. Please see Niall C.'s link about how to post an image – kevinskio Oct 15 '16 at 22:06
  • I can see the picture,but its hard to say quite what it is, there's so much grass surrounding the stem - I see the stem appears to be thorny, and the fruits are small and yellow, but I don't think they're tomatoes - not enough foliage to be useful for ID either. – Bamboo Oct 15 '16 at 22:37

2 Answers2

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This is Carolina Horsenettle, Solanum carolinense. It is a noxious weed, spreading by rhizomes and seeds, and it contains a toxic alkaloid (solanine), so is not suitable for consumption. It is poisonous to livestock, as well as resistant to glyphosate (RoundUp) and 2,4D (selective herbicide).

J. Musser
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It's likely Solanum elaeagnifolium. Non-edible.

enter image description here

Brenn
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  • Some relatives are edible, even tasty: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physalis But as with all Solanaceae, should be treated with extreme caution until you are certain what they are. – Wayfaring Stranger Nov 08 '16 at 15:54