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.
Solanum viarum, the tropical soda apple, is a perennial shrub native to Brazil and Argentina with a prickly stem and prickly leaves. The fruit is golf-ball-sized with the coloration of a watermelon. It is considered an invasive species in the lower eastern coastal states of the United States and recently on the Mid North Coast of Australia.
Rumex obtusifolius, commonly known as bitter dock, broad-leaved dock, bluntleaf dock, dock leaf, dockens or butter dock, is a perennial plant in the family Polygonaceae. It is native to Europe, but is found on all temperate continents. It is a highly invasive species in some zones, resulting from its abundant seed dispersal, adaptability to reproduce, aggressive roots, ability to tolerate extreme climates, and hardiness.
The false potato beetle is a beetle found primarily in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. Its distribution extends to Maine.
Solanum mammosum, commonly known as nipplefruit, fox head, cow's udder, or apple of Sodom, is an inedible Pan-American tropical fruit. The plant is grown for ornamental purposes, in part because of the distal end of the fruit's resemblance to a human breast, while the proximal end looks like a cow's udder. It is an annual in the family Solanaceae, and part of the genus Solanum, making the plant a relative of the eggplant, tomato, and potato. This poisonous fruit is native to South America, but has been naturalized in Southern Mexico, Greater Antilles, Central America, and the Caribbean. The plant adapts well to most soils, but thrives in moist, loamy soil.
Lycopersicon was a genus in the flowering plant family Solanaceae. It contained about 13 species in the tomato group of nightshades. First removed from the genus Solanum by Philip Miller in 1754, its removal leaves the latter genus paraphyletic, so modern botanists generally accept the names in Solanum. The name Lycopersicon is still used by gardeners, farmers, and seed companies. Collectively, the species in this group apart from the common cultivated plant are called wild tomatoes.
Solanum elaeagnifolium, the silverleaf nightshade or silver-leaved nightshade, is a species of plant in the nightshade family native to North and South America. It is common in parts of southwestern USA, and sometimes weed of western North America. Other common names include prairie berry, silverleaf nettle, white horsenettle or silver nightshade. In South Africa it is known as silver-leaf bitter-apple or satansbos. More ambiguous names include "bull-nettle", "horsenettle" and the Spanish "trompillo".
Solanum sisymbriifolium is commonly known as vila-vila, sticky nightshade, red buffalo-bur, the fire-and-ice plant, litchi tomato, or Morelle de Balbis.
Solanum rostratum is a species of nightshade that is native to the United States and northern and central Mexico. Common names include buffalobur nightshade, buffalo-bur, spiny nightshade, Colorado bur, Kansas thistle, bad woman, Mexican thistle, and Texas thistle.
Solanum dimidiatum is a species of plant in the family Solanaceae known by the common names western horsenettle, Torrey's nightshade, and robust horsenettle. It is native to the central United States, where it grows in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas. In California it is known as an introduced species and a noxious weed. It is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing an erect stem up to 80 centimeters tall. It is covered in yellow prickles and branched hairs. The leaves may be up to 15 centimeters long, their edges wavy to lobed and sometimes toothed. The inflorescence is a branching array of several flowers. Each flower has a bell-shaped corolla measuring 3 to 5 centimeters wide. It is lavender to purple, or white. The five large, yellow anthers are about a centimeter long. The fruit is a spherical yellow berry up to 3 centimeters wide.
Solanum triflorum is a species of nightshade, in the family Solanaceae, also known as cutleaf nightshade and small nightshade. Like many nightshades, S. triflorum is native to South America, specifically to Argentina; it has made its way onto other continents, including Europe and Australia, as an introduced species, where it is deemed a weed, at times. It is also typically considered native to much of the Eastern and Western parts of the United states and parts of Canada, although there is some debate on the matter. It grows in many types of habitats, preferring tilled, disturbed terrain for germinating. It is an annual herb, producing sprawling, decumbent stems dotted with new growth. These decumbent, horizontal stems may quickly grow up to a meter in all directions. Solanum triflorum is covered in trichomes and hairs, which are sometimes mistaken for glands. The leaves are a few centimeters long, and deeply “cut” into slightly pointed, serrated lobes, garnering its common name, “cutleaf”. The inflorescence bears two or three flowers, each just under a centimeter wide when fully open. The flower is usually white, but may be greenish or purple-tinged. The fruit is a berry, similar to the nightshade family, roughly a centimeter wide.
Lebia grandis is a ground beetle in the family Carabidae found in North America. It is a specialist predator on the eggs and larvae of Colorado potato beetles, and its larvae are obligate parasitoids of Colorado potato beetle pupae.
Solanum tampicense, also known as wetland nightshade, aquatic soda apple, and scrambling nightshade, is a perennial in the Solanaceae or Nightshade Family. It can exist as a vine, tree, or shrub and is native to the West Indies and Central America. It is classified as a noxious weed by the United States Department of Agriculture and by several states and is known as an invasive species in the state of Florida.
Smilax bona-nox, the saw greenbrier, is a species of plant in the family Smilacaceae. It is native to the Southern United States, and eastern Mexico.
Solanum macrocarpon otherwise known as the African eggplant : añara), Surinamese eggplant or Vietnamese eggplant is a plant of the family Solanaceae. S. macrocarpon is a tropical perennial plant that is closely related to the eggplant. S. macrocarpon originated from West Africa, but is now widely distributed in Central and East Africa. The plant also grows in the Caribbean, South America, and some parts of Southeast Asia. S. macrocarpon is widely cultivated for its use as a food, its medicinal purposes, and as an ornamental plant.
A stinging plant or a plant with stinging hairs is a plant with hairs (trichomes) on its leaves or stems that are capable of injecting substances that cause pain or irritation.
The milkweed leaf beetle is a species of leaf beetle from the family Chrysomelidae. It is round bodied, 8–11 mm in length with a black head and pronotum and bright orange to yellow elytra with variable mottled black patches. It is colored and shaped like a super-sized ladybird beetle even though the ladybird is in a different family, Coccinellidae. The larva is shaped much like the adult except with a small tail extension. Its color varies from bright orange to white with a gray to black pronotum and prominent black spots around its spiracles.
Trichobaris trinotata, commonly known as the "Potato stalk borer", is a species of weevil in the family Curculionidae. It is found in North America where it is a pest of potato plants, the larvae tunnelling inside their stems.
Solanum sturtianum, commonly known as Sturt’s nightshade or Thargomindah nightshade, is a flowering plant from the Solanaceae (nightshade) family. Distinct by its purple flowers and dark-black fruits, it is a shrub endemic to the arid zones of mainland Australia.
Solanum esuriale is a species of perennial herbaceous plant native to Australia.
