[msrenee]

They're common in landscaping throughout the US. We had some in our front yard, but us kids knew better than to eat random berries. It's painful for me to think that there are people out there without the common sense not to eat random plants they don't recognize.

Folks visiting the desert and distractedly running straight into octillos is just good entertainment. There's not much on the east coast that prepares you for a random shrub to be so hostile. Poisonous berries though, they're everywhere. I'm surprised your fellows made it to adulthood without basic suburban survival skills.

[cogman10]

> It's painful for me to think that there are people out there without the common sense not to eat random plants they don't recognize.

I think it's understandable. I live in a city suburb and the foliage around me is pretty much all non-toxic.

I was raised in a rural community and went camping often so we had the lessons of "don't eat random shit, you'll die" drummed into us.

[msrenee]

Except for grass and most trees, suburban foliage is often quite toxic. A lot of your ornamental plants are poisonous. Think lilies, foxglove, Solomon's seal, and all the excitement of morning glories. The basic understanding that you don't eat anything you can't identify as edible is important in the suburbs too.