Bush tomato

Last updated
Bush tomato (fruit) Solanum lithophilum flower and fruit.jpg
Bush tomato (fruit)
Bush tomato plant Australian bush tomato plant.jpg
Bush tomato plant

Bush tomatoes are the fruit or entire plants of certain nightshade (Solanum) species native to the more arid parts of Australia. While they are quite closely related to tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum), they might be even closer relatives of the eggplant (S. melongena), which they resemble in many details. There are 94 (mostly perennial) natives and 31 (mostly annual) introduced species in Australia. [1]

Bush tomato plants are small shrubs whose growth is encouraged by fire and disturbance. [1]

The fruit of a number of species have been used as food sources by Aboriginal people in the drier areas of Australia. [1]

A number of Solanum species contain significant levels of solanine and as such are highly poisonous. [1] It is strongly recommended that people unfamiliar with the plant do not experiment with the different species, as differentiating between them can often be difficult.[ citation needed ]

Some of the edible species are:

In 1859, aboriginal people were observed burning off the outer skin of S. aviculare as the raw state would blister their mouths. [4] S. chippendalei is consumed by first splitting the fruit, scraping the centre out and eating the outer flesh as the seeds and surrounding placenta are bitter. [1] S. diversiflorum is roasted before being eaten or dried. [1] Fruit of S.orbiculatum is edible, but the fruit of the large leafed form may be bitter. [1] Fruit of S. phlomoides appears to be edible after the removal of seeds and roasting or sundrying. [1]

Solanum aviculare contains solasodine, a steroid used in the manufacture of oral contraceptives. [2] Solanum plastisexum, a rare species first described in 2019, is distinguished among plants for exhibiting "breeding system fluidity" – that is, it has no stable sexual expression.

Related Research Articles

<i>Solanum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Solanum is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include three food crops of high economic importance: the potato, the tomato and the eggplant. It is the largest genus in the nightshade family Solanaceae, comprising around 1,500 species. It also contains the so-called horse nettles, as well as numerous plants cultivated for their ornamental flowers and fruit.

<i>Solanum carolinense</i> Species of plant

Solanum carolinense, the Carolina horsenettle, is not a true nettle, but a member of the Solanaceae, or nightshade family. It is a perennial herbaceous plant, native to the southeastern United States, though its range has expanded throughout much of temperate North America. The plant is an invasive in parts of Europe, Asia, and Australia. The stem and undersides of larger leaf veins are covered with prickles.

<i>Solanum dulcamara</i> Species of plant

Solanum dulcamara is a species of vine in the genus Solanum of the family Solanaceae. Common names include bittersweet, bittersweet nightshade, bitter nightshade, blue bindweed, Amara Dulcis, climbing nightshade, felonwort, fellenwort, felonwood, poisonberry, poisonflower, scarlet berry, snakeberry, trailing bittersweet, trailing nightshade, violet bloom, and woody nightshade.

<i>Solanum aviculare</i> Species of plant

Solanum aviculare, commonly called poroporo or pōporo, bumurra (Dharug), kangaroo apple, pam plum (Australia), or New Zealand nightshade, is a soft-wooded shrub native to New Zealand and the east coast of Australia.

<i>Solanum centrale</i> Species of plant

Solanum centrale, the kutjera, or Australian desert raisin, is a plant native to the more arid parts of Australia. Like other "bush tomatoes", it has been used as a food source by Central Australia and Aboriginal groups for millennia.

<i>Solanum pseudocapsicum</i> Species of plant

Solanum pseudocapsicum is a nightshade species with mildly poisonous fruit. It is commonly known as the Jerusalem cherry, Madeira winter cherry, or, ambiguously, "winter cherry". These perennials can be grown decoratively as house plants, but in some areas of South Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand it is regarded as a weed.

<i>Solanum aculeastrum</i> Species of plant

Solanum aculeastrum is commonly known as soda apple, sodaapple nightshade, goat apple, poison apple, or more ambiguously as "bitter-apple". It is a poisonous nightshade species from Africa and not related to true apples. The term "soda apple" probably derives from "Sodom apple", modified due to the fruit's detergent properties.

<i>Solanum americanum</i> Species of flowering plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae

Solanum americanum, commonly known as American black nightshade, small-flowered nightshade or glossy nightshade, is a herbaceous flowering plant of wide though uncertain native range. The certain native range encompasses the tropics and subtropics of the Americas, Melanesia, New Guinea, and Australia.

<i>Castanospermum</i> Genus of legumes

Castanospermum is a monotypic genus in the legume family Fabaceae. The sole species is Castanospermum australe, commonly known as Moreton Bay chestnut or black bean, which is native to rainforested areas on the east coast of Queensland and northeastern New South Wales, and to the southwest Pacific islands of Vanuatu and New Caledonia

<i>Solanum nigrum</i> Species of flowering plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae

Solanum nigrum, the European black nightshade or simply black nightshade or blackberry nightshade, is a species of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae, native to Eurasia and introduced in the Americas, Australasia, and South Africa. Ripe berries and cooked leaves of edible strains are used as food in some locales, and plant parts are used as a traditional medicine. Some other species may also be referred to as "black nightshade".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bush tucker</span> Food used as sustenance by Indigenous Australians

Bush tucker, also called bush food, is any food native to Australia and historically eaten by Indigenous Australians, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but it can also describe any native flora, fauna, or funga used for culinary or medicinal purposes, regardless of the continent or culture. Animal native foods include kangaroo, emu, witchetty grubs and crocodile, and plant foods include fruits such as quandong, kutjera, spices such as lemon myrtle and vegetables such as warrigal greens and various native yams.

<i>Exocarpos cupressiformis</i> Species of plant

Exocarpos cupressiformis, with common names that include native cherry, cherry ballart, and cypress cherry, belongs to the sandalwood family of plants. It is a species endemic to Australia. Occasionally the genus name is spelt "Exocarpus" but it appears to be mostly no longer in use.

<i>Solanum ellipticum</i> Species of plant

Solanum ellipticum is known as potato bush and under the more ambiguous name of "bush tomato". The Arrernte name of merne awele-awele might refer to this species or to the similar S. quadriloculatum. Native to Australia, the potato bush is a small fruiting shrub in the family Solanaceae.

<i>Syzygium australe</i> Species of tree

Syzygium australe, with many common names that include brush cherry, scrub cherry, creek lilly-pilly, creek satinash, and watergum, is a rainforest tree native to eastern Australia. It can attain a height of up to 35 m with a trunk diameter of 60 cm. In cultivation, this species is usually a small to medium-sized tree with a maximum height of only 18m.

<i>Solanum retroflexum</i> Species of shrub

Solanum retroflexum, commonly known as umsobo (isiZulu), wonderberry or sunberry, is a historic heirloom fruiting shrub. Both common names are also used for the European black nightshade in some places, particularly where the latter species has been introduced, so care must be taken to distinguish them. It is sometimes called garden huckleberry, but that properly refers to the S. scabrum described by Philip Miller.

<i>Solanum chippendalei</i> Species of shrub

Solanum chippendalei is a small fruiting shrub in the family Solanaceae, native to northern Australia. It is named after its discoverer, George Chippendale. The fruits, known as "bush tomatoes", are edible and are an important indigenous food, and the aborigines who use them broadcast the seed for later harvesting.

<i>Solanum vescum</i> Species of shrub

Solanum vescum, commonly known as green kangaroo apple or gunyang, is a small fruiting shrub in the family Solanaceae, native to eastern and southeastern Australia.

<i>Solanum laciniatum</i> Species of plant

Solanum laciniatum a soft-wooded shrub native to the east coast of Australia, notably Victoria and Tasmania. It also occurs in Western Australia and New Zealand, where some authorities consider it to be introduced. It is similar to Solanum aviculare, with which it shares the common name kangaroo apple. The common name refers to the likeness of the leaf shape to a kangaroo paw print. This plant is currently being cultivated to produce corticosteroid drugs.

<i>Solanum esuriale</i> Native Australian plant

Solanum esuriale is a species of perennial herbaceous plant native to Australia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Moore, Philip A Guide to Plants of Inland Australia (2005), Reed New Holland, Sydney, ISBN   1-876334-86-X
  2. 1 2 Robinson, Les Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney (1991), Kangaroo Press, Pymble, NSW. 3rd Edition, ISBN   0-7318-1211-5
  3. Donaldson, Stuart (16 December 2003). "Solanum laciniatum". Growing Native Plants. Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  4. Bunce, Daniel Travels with Dr. Leichhardt,(1859), London