Alicia Silverstone assured her fans that she was “alive and well” after succumbing to one of life’s most irresistible, but potentially dangerous, instincts: What is that pretty-looking plant? Can I eat it? I ate it. Oops, is it poisonous?
Yesterday, Silverstone shared a video on Instagram from England in which she picked an orange plant from a garden and bit into it because it looked kind of like a tomato. (Which Silverstone pronounced “to-“, by the way.)mah-to” – it is unclear whether she was just trying to imitate a funny sound or whether she actually pronounced it that way). As Silverstone then pointed out, it was definitely not a tomato.
Even she could tell that the inside didn’t look like a tomato, and neither did the leaves of the plant. As for the taste, well, Silverstone certainly noticed something that made her say, “I don’t think you should eat that.”
Turns out Silverstone was almost on the right track when she said the plant tasted a bit like pepper. That’s because the plant was likely a pseudocapsicum, which means “false pepper,” although the plant is commonly known as “Jerusalem artichoke” or “winter cherry.” And yes, as many pointed out in the comments on Silverstone’s post – they are a bit poisonous.
Alexis Nelson, the popular TikToker nicknamed “Black Forager,” gave a brief description of the plant. As Nelson explained, winter cherries are “mildly toxic,” but Silverstone was never in any real danger: “If she ate, like, seven of them, she might have had a stomach ache. Maybe she got… poop on her. But other than that, my girlfriend is fine.”
Nelson was also baffled by those online who falsely claimed that Silverstone had actually eaten a really dangerous, poisonous form of nightshade (which was definitely not the case). However, there was also a lot of confusion on Silverstone’s part. When it comes to picking and eating any fruit you don’t know from someone’s garden, Nelson gave very strict guidelines: “Don’t do that. That’s… clueless.”
