When it comes to outdoor survival skills 101, the rule of thumb is this: We shouldn't eat anything that we're unsure of, especially if it’s a random fruit growing in the wild. But sometimes, curiosity gets the best of us, such as the recent case of Alicia Silverstone.
The star of the 1995 hit Clueless star recently uploaded a video of herself picking an unknown fruit from a stranger’s garden and eating it. Naturally, fans of the actress became concerned after identifying the fruit as a Jerusalem Cherry, which just so happens to be a poisonous fruit. Yikes!
LOOK: Alicia Silverstone Eats Possibly Poisonous Fruit, Sparking Netizens' Concern
In the actress' most recent video in England, Alicia shared how she discovered a fruit while walking along the street, as she asked the internet for help with identifying it.
“I discovered something that I can’t figure out what it is, and I need your help. I just bit into it because I was on the street, and we were discussing if it was a tomato or not. It’s definitely not because look at these leaves,” she said, before panning the camera towards the plant.
Netizens and fans went into a frenzy after identifying the plant as a Solanum pseudocapsicum, or in layman's terms, Jerusalem Cherry.
What Is a Jerusalem Cherry?
The Jerusalem Cherry is a species of nightshade and is often grown as a decorative house plant. The plant's fruit is often confused for cherry tomatoes because of its similarity in shape, taste, and texture, but the Jerusalem Cherry contains a poison known as solanocapsine. Although this is a mild poison and isn’t life-threatening, it may cause gastric problems such as gastroenteritis (a.k.a stomach flu) which can lead to nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting.
“‘I don’t think you’re supposed to eat this.’ Eats it anyway. GIRL. I hope you’re okay.” commented one user.
“Why would ANYONE eat random, unknown things from the street?!?” exclaimed another.
“MAAM It’s been 7 HOURS. Are you okay?? Cause like you took most of the second one down,” quipped another commenter.
Thankfully, Alicia has already posted an update. “Alive and well! Don’t worry… I didn’t swallow,” she wrote.
Phew! Glad you're okay, Alicia!
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