Solanum linnaeanum

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Solanum linnaeanum
Starr 060225-8712 Solanum linnaeanum.jpg
Purple flowers and ripe yellow fruit stand out against the green foliage
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Solanum
Species:
S. linnaeanum
Binomial name
Solanum linnaeanum
Hepper & P.-M.L.Jaeger
Synonyms

See text

Unripe fruit and thorns Solanum sodomeum.JPG
Unripe fruit and thorns

Solanum linnaeanum is a nightshade species known as devil's apple and, in some places where it is introduced, apple of Sodom. The latter name is also used for other nightshades and entirely different plants elsewhere, in particular the poisonous milkweed Calotropis procera . [1]

Contents

This poisonous plant bearing tomato-like fruit is native to many African countries Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, [2] Zimbabwe and Mozambique, [3] and is considered to be an invasive species in Australia, [4] New Zealand, [5] Hawaii, Fiji, New Caledonia, other Pacific Islands, the Aseer region of Saudi Arabia, and northern areas of Pakistan. [6] When raw its fruits are green and look exactly like the Thai eggplant and when ripe they are yellow. In Ukambani eastern Kenya children in the villages in summer season use the poisonous yellow fruit as football, cautiously.

Solbec Pharmaceuticals attempted to develop Coramsine, [7] a 1:1 mixture of the alkaloids solamargine and solasonine extracted from Solanum linnaeanum, as a cancer drug. Preliminary clinical trials were initially promising, [8] but the drug was ultimately unsuccessful.

Solanum linnaeanum may be confused with Solanum cinereum (Narrawa burr) in Australia, [3] the neotropical Solanum capsicoides , [3] or Solanum incanum in Africa.

Synonyms

Due to confusion about what species the original Solanum sodomeum of Carl Linnaeus referred to (most recently, it was identified as Solanum ferox ), the old description was discarded and the plant redescribed as currently understood. A new taxon honoring Linnaeus was chosen. A number of invalid taxa have thus become attached to the devil's apple: [9]

Solanum undatum as described by Walsh is Solanum lycocarpum .
Solanum undatum var. violaceum, described by Dunal in de Candolle, is the original Solanum aethiopicum of Linnaeus.

It is not clear whether the plant described by Drège as Solanum sodomeum was of this species. Solanum sodomeum by Russ based on Nees von Esenbeck is another nomen nudum. [9]

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 also contains the nightshades and horse nettles, as well as numerous plants cultivated for their ornamental flowers and fruit.

<i>Solanum mauritianum</i> Species of tree

Solanum mauritianum is a small tree or shrub native to South America, including Northern Argentina, Southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Its common names include earleaf nightshade, woolly nightshade, flannel weed, bugweed, tobacco weed, tobacco bush, wild tobacco and kerosene plant.

<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>Calotropis procera</i> Species of plant

Calotropis procera is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae that is native to North Africa, tropical Africa, Western Asia, South Asia, and Indochina. The green fruits contain a toxic milky sap that is extremely bitter and turns into a gluey coating which is resistant to soap.

<i>Cyphomandra</i> Extinct genus of flowering plants

Cyphomandra was a genus in the flowering plant family Solanaceae. It used to contain about 35 species native to the Americas from Mexico southwards to Northern Argentina.

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 mammosum</i> Species of plant

Solanum mammosum is 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.

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

Solanum nelsonii, common names pōpolo and Nelson's horsenettle, is a partially woody sprawling shrub-like perennial plant in the family Solanaceae, part of the Solanum or nightshade genus. This poisonous plant is endemic to the Pacific Islands. It grows low in coastal sites in coral rubble to pure sand.

<i>Lycopersicon</i> Extinct genus of flowering plants

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.

<i>Solanum elaeagnifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

Solanum elaeagnifolium, the silverleaf nightshade or silver-leaved nightshade, is a common native plant to parts of the southwestern USA, and sometimes weed of western North America and also found in South 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". The plant is also endemic to the Middle East.

Apple of Sodom is a species of milkweed in the family Apocynaceae native to the Dead Sea and Sodom, Israel and other desert regions.

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

Lycianthes is a genus of plants from the nightshade family (Solanaceae), found in both the Old World and the New World, but predominantly in the latter. It contains roughly 150 species, mostly from tropical America, with 35-40 species in Asia and the Pacific.

<i>Solanum sisymbriifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

Solanum sisymbriifolium is commonly known as vila-vila, sticky nightshade, red buffalo-bur, the fire-and-ice plant, litchi tomato, or Morelle de Balbis.

<i>Solanum bahamense</i> Species of flowering plant

Solanum bahamense, commonly known as the Bahama nightshade, is a plant in the nightshade family. It is native across the West Indies, from the Florida Keys east to Dominica. It is a common species in coastal habitats, often on calcareous soils.

<i>Solanum paniculatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Solanum paniculatum, commonly known as jurubeba, is a nightshade common in almost all of Brazil. It is used as a medicinal plant and has a bitter taste.

<i>Solanum lanceolatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Solanum lanceolatum, with the common names orangeberry nightshade and lanceleaf nightshade, is a species of nightshade. It is native to regions of South America, including the Cerrado ecoregion of the Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, primarily in Brazil.

<i>Solanum incanum</i> Species of flowering plant

Solanum incanum is a species of nightshade, a flowering plant in the family Solanaceae. It is native to Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, eastwards to India. The species was introduced to Taiwan and Vietnam.

<i>Solanum diphyllum</i> Species of flowering plant

Solanum diphyllum, commonly known as the twoleaf nightshade, is a species of nightshade native to the Americas. It is cultivated as an ornamental plant for its clusters of dark green round fruits that turn a bright yellow when ripe.

<i>Solanum heterodoxum</i> Species of plant in the family Solanaceae

Solanum heterodoxum, the melonleaf nightshade, is a species of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae. It is native to Mexico and the US state of New Mexico, and has been introduced to Bulgaria. Solanum heterodoxum var. setigeroides is now considered to be a full species, Solanum setigeroides, native to more northerly areas of the United States than S. heterodoxum.

References

  1. "Calotropis procera". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  2. AWC (2004)
  3. 1 2 3 Species Fact Sheet, Queensland Government
  4. DAF-WA [2006]
  5. Roy et al. (2005)
  6. Information on Solanum linnaeanum as relevant to Pacific Islands also in Aseer region in Saudi Arabi and northern areas of Pakistan
  7. SP [2006]
  8. Millward et al. (2005)
  9. 1 2 Solanaceae Source (2008)

Footnotes