birds are practically immune to most berries, something to do with thier digestive system, and different receptors for those poisons. they can eat Yew “berries” with no ill effect.
weps@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I know something about poisonous berries.
They’re not poisonous to birds but are to mammals with teeth.
If a mammal would eat them they would crush and destroy the seeds. Birds do spread the seeds though.
We have an invasive Arum Italicum here which has poisonous berries and I thought that was stupid but apparently it’s targeted deterrence and it’s not stupid.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 day ago
froh42@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Isn’t that the same with capsicum (chili), which wants to be eaten by birds. Until some very dumb mammals came along and said “Oi, noice pain! Me like!”
weps@lemmy.world 1 day ago
yeah peppers, marijuana, tomatoes
we like all of that
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 day ago
swallowtails on specific aristocholcia plants, pretty toxic to humans believes its a nasty carcinogen too, but only native butterfly larvae can it, while some aristocholcia that are non native are too toxic even to native butterflies that can eat it.
phtheven@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Tomatoes? What’s their defense mechanism?
weps@lemmy.world 1 day ago
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.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 day ago
wild ones protect themselves from tomato hornworms, by releasing a volatile chemical to nearby predators, and parasitoid insects. also some produce “Trichome” hairs to prevent cuscuta parasitic plant from latching on.