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 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 muricatum is a species of evergreen shrub native to South America and grown for its sweet edible fruit.
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.
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 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.
Solanum sarrachoides is a species of South American nightshade known as the hairy nightshade or leafy-fruited nightshade.
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 capsicoides, the cockroach berry, is a species of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae. It is native to eastern Brazil but naturalized in other tropical regions, where it sometimes becomes an invasive weed.
Solanum pseudoquina is a species of plant in the family Solanaceae. It is endemic to Brazil. A rare plant, it is dependent on conservation of its habitat to prevent it from becoming a threatened species.
Solanum citrullifolium is a species of flowering plant in the Solanaceae family. It is a nightshade referred to by the common name watermelon nightshade, as its leaves somewhat resemble those of a watermelon plant. It is a white-stemmed shrub with purple star-shaped flowers. It is native to the southern United States and it is grown in home gardens as an ornamental plant.
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.
Solanum lasiocarpum, synonym Solanum feroxL., otherwise known as Indian nightshade or hairy-fruited eggplant, is a plant that produces edible fruit. Its flowers are white and its fruits are pale yellow.
Solanum incanum is a species of nightshade, a flowering plant in the family Solanaceae. It is native to East Africa, West Africa, the Middle East, and eastwards to India. The species was introduced to Taiwan and Vietnam.
Solanum cowiei is a small fruiting subshrub in the family Solanaceae. It is endemic to the Northern Territory in Australia. The fruit is a green berry, up to 15 mm in diameter, that later becomes black-green and detaches from the calyx.
The Solanaceae, or the nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and ornamentals. Many members of the family contain potent alkaloids, and some are highly toxic, but many—including tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, bell and chili peppers—are used as food. The family belongs to the order Solanales, in the asterid group and class Magnoliopsida (dicotyledons). The Solanaceae consists of about 98 genera and some 2,700 species, with a great diversity of habitats, morphology and ecology.
Solanum esuriale is a species of perennial herbaceous plant native to Australia.
Solanum petrophilum, commonly known as rock nightshade or prickly nightshade, is an Australian native perennial herbaceous plant that belongs to the family Solanaceae. Solanaceae has a worldwide distribution and also contains important food species such as the tomato, peppers, and potatoes.
