Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Digital Library

The nightshade family has about 2600 species worldwide and includes herbs, shrubs, trees, and vines. While many are highly poisonous (deadly nightshade, Jimson weed) others are major food crops such as potatoes, tomatoes, and chile peppers. Tobacco is an extremely toxic plant that is grown in huge quantities for two uses: as an addictive drug essential in maintaining cigarette sales and as an important agricultural insecticide. In both products the active ingredient is nicotine. Several useful pharmaceutical drugs are derived from various species of nightshades.