Solanum scabrum

Last updated

Solanum scabrum
Solanum scabrum Psianka 2018-09-02 01.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Solanum
Species:
S. scabrum
Binomial name
Solanum scabrum

Solanum scabrum, also known as garden huckleberry, [1] is an annual or perennial plant in the nightshade family. The geographic origin of the species is uncertain; Linnaeus attributed it to Africa, but it also occurs in North America, and it is naturalized in many countries. In Africa it is cultivated as a leaf vegetable and for dye from the berries. [2]

Contents

Description

An annual or short-lived perennial herb to 1 m tall, hairless or sparsely hairy. The leaves are usually ovate, 7–12 cm long and 5–8 cm wide, with petioles 1.5–7 cm long. The inflorescence is simple or sometimes branched with 9–12 flowers. The white corolla is stellate, 15–20 mm diam., and sometimes tinged purple and with yellow/green basal star. The berries are globular, 10–17 mm diam., purple-black. The seeds are 1.8–2.2 mm long, pale or stained purple. [3]

Food

Solanum scabrum is grown as an edible leaf crop in Africa. It is the most intensively cultivated species for leaf cropping within the Solanum nigrum complex, and as such has undergone genetic selection by farmers for leaf size and other characteristics. [2] Njama njama is a Cameroonian cuisine dish made with the leaves.

Dye

In Africa a stocky form of Solanum scabrum is cultivated as a dye crop using the ripe berries. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eggplant</span> Plant species, Solanum melongena

Eggplant, aubergine or brinjal is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Solanum melongena is grown worldwide for its edible fruit.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackcurrant</span> Species of flowering plant in the gooseberry family Grossulariaceae

The blackcurrant, also known as black currant or cassis, is a deciduous shrub in the family Grossulariaceae grown for its edible berries. It is native to temperate parts of central and northern Europe and northern Asia, where it prefers damp fertile soils. It is widely cultivated both commercially and domestically.

<i>Berberis</i> Genus of flowering plants representing the barberry family

Berberis, commonly known as barberry, is a large genus of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from 1–5 m (3.3–16.4 ft) tall, found throughout temperate and subtropical regions of the world. Species diversity is greatest in South America and Asia; Europe, Africa and North America have native species as well. The best-known Berberis species is the European barberry, Berberis vulgaris, which is common in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and central Asia, and has been widely introduced in North America. Many of the species have spines on the shoots and all along the margins of the leaves.

<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 quitoense</i> Species of plant

Solanum quitoense, known as naranjilla in Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Panama and as lulo in Colombia, is a tropical perennial plant from northwestern South America. The specific name for this species of nightshade means "from Quito."

<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>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 genus Solanum, 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. A tendency exists in literature to incorrectly refer to many of the other "black nightshade" species as "Solanum nigrum".

<i>Canna indica</i> Species of flowering plant

Canna indica, commonly known as Indian shot, African arrowroot, edible canna, purple arrowroot, Sierra Leone arrowroot, is a plant species in the family Cannaceae. It is native to much of South America, Central America, the West Indies, and Mexico. It is also naturalized in the southeastern United States, and much of Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. Canna indica has been a minor food crop cultivated by indigenous peoples of the Americas for thousands of years.

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

Solanum ptychanthum, the West Indian nightshade or eastern black nightshade, is an annual or occasionally perennial plant in the Solanaceae (Nightshade) family. It is typically 15–60 cm tall and many branched.

<i>Pelargonium peltatum</i> Scrambling perennial plant in the family Geraniaceae from southern and eastern South Africa

Pelargonium peltatum is a scrambling perennial plant with five shallow or deeply lobed, circular- to heart-shaped, somewhat fleshy leaves, sometimes with a differently coloured semicircular band, that has been assigned to the cranesbill family. It carries umbel-like inflorescences with 2–10, white to mauve, bilateral symmetrical flowers, each with a "spur" that is merged with the flower stalk. It is known by several common names including ivy-leaved pelargonium and cascading geranium. It is native to southern and eastern South Africa. In its home range, it flowers year round but most vigorously from August to October.

<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 opacum</i> Species of plant in the family Solanaceae

Solanum opacum is a species of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae. It is referred to by the common names green berry nightshade, or morelle verte and is a sprawling annual native to eastern Australia. It is part of the black nightshade group of Solanum species.

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

Solanum villosum, the hairy nightshade, red nightshade or woolly nightshade, is a sprawling annual weed in Europe, western Asia, northern Africa, North America, and is also naturalized in Australia.

<i>Solanum macrocarpon</i> Species of fruit and plant

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African nightshade</span> Name for several species of flowering plant

African nightshades are several species of plants in the section Solanum of the genus Solanum, that are commonly consumed as leafy vegetables and herbs. African nightshades are grown in both high and lowland areas in West and East Africa, particularly in Nigeria and Cameroon. There is a large variation in diversity of the African nightshades, which have many nutritional and medicinal benefits, even though the family of nightshade is commonly known as comprising dangerous weeds or poisonous plants. Species known as African nightshade include Solanum scabrum, Solanum villosum, Solanum nigrum, and Solanum americanum. Other common names for African nightshade are Black nightshade and Narrow-leaved nightshade. Local names of African nightshade include managu (Kikuyu), mnavu (Swahili), amanagu (Kisii), namasaka (Luhya), osuga (Luo), isoiyot (Kipsigis), kitulu (Kamba), ormomoi (Maa), ndunda (Taita), nsugga (Luganda), sochot (Keiyo), and esisogho (Lukhonzo).

<i>Vigna trilobata</i> Species of legume

Vigna trilobata, the African gram, three-lobe-leaf cowpea or jungle mat bean, is a regenerating annual herb found in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Afghanistan and the Malay archipelago.

<i>Vigna hosei</i> Species of legume

Vigna hosei, also known as the sarowak bean, is a perennial legume that grows in low-lying, humid, tropical areas but more commonly disturbed or roadside areas.

<i>Macroptilium lathyroides</i> Species of legume native to South America

Macroptilium lathyroides is a species of plant in the legume family (Fabaceae) commonly known as the phasey bean. It is the type species of genus Macroptilium. Herbaceous annual or short-lived perennial growing up to 1 m high, it is native to the tropical and subtropical areas of Central and South America, and naturalized throughout the tropics. It is cultivated for forage or as a green manure or cover crop in rotation. As it quickly spreads on disturbed soils, it is considered an environmental weed in some areas.

<i>Silphium integrifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

Silphium integrifolium is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Its common names include rosinweed, whole-leaf rosinweed, entire-leaf rosinweed, prairie rosinweed, and silflower. It is native to eastern North America, including Ontario in Canada and the eastern and central United States as far west as New Mexico.

References

  1. BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  2. 1 2 3 Manoko,M.L.K.,van den Berg,R.G., Feron,R.M.C.,van der Weerden,G.M., Mariani,C., Genetic diversity of the African hexaploid species Solanum scabrum Mill. and Solanum nigrum L. (Solanaceae), Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, Volume 55, Number 3, 409-418.
  3. Factsheet Solanum scabrum, Flora of South Australia