Solanum americanum

Solanum americanum
Solanum americanum
American Nightshade
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Solanum
Species: S. americanum
Binomial name
Solanum americanum
Mill.
Synonyms
  • Solanum nodiflorum Jacq.[1]

American nightshade (Solanum americanum) is a herbaceous flowering plant of wide though uncertain native range. The certain native range encompasses the tropics and subtropics of the Americas, Melanesia and Meganesia [2] [3]. The plant is widely naturalised around the Tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans, including Hawaiʻi, Indochina, Madagascar and Africa, however its may be an anthropogenic introduction in these locales.

It grows up to 1–1.5 metres (39–59 in) tall and is an annual or short-lived perennial. The leaves are alternate on the branch, and vary greatly in size, up to 10 centimetres (3.9 in) long and 7 centimetres (2.8 in) broad, with a 4-centimetre (1.6 in) petiole and a coarsely wavy or toothed margin. The flowers are about 1 cm diameter, white or occasionally light purple, with yellow stamens. The fruit is a shiny black berry 5–10 millimetres (0.20–0.39 in) diameter, containing numerous small seeds.

Contents

Toxicity

At least five species of the large Solanum nigrum complex are considered edible in Uganda, including S.americanum, S. scabrum, S. villosum, S. tarderemotum and S. florulentum. In Africa, New Guinea and Oceania the young green shoots of Solanum americanum are cooked and eaten as greens. However care should be taken since numerous toxins are reported with levels varying with local conditions and varieties. [4][5]

The green fruit in particular should be considered poisonous as they contain high levels of solanine and solamargine, toxic glycoalkaloids,[6], as well as the tropane alkaloids scopolamine (hyoscine) and hyoscyamine (an isomer of atropine).[7]

It is used as a medicinal in Cameroon, Kenya, Hawaiʻi, Panama, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania, and as a wild or cultivated pot herb in Cameroon, Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Hawaiʻi and other Pacific Islands, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Sierra Leone, the Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Identification

American nightshade can be confused with a variety of other related nightshades. Here is a quick guide for differentiating between species.

American nightshade Solanum americanum

The undersides of its hairy leaves are not reddish-purple. The berries are speckled with white until it is fully ripe and turns black.

Black nightshade Solanum nigrum

Berries are purple or dark green and dull. They are almost completely exposed (very small calyx).

Eastern black nightshade Solanum ptycanthum

The undersides of the leaves are reddish purple and the berries are dark.

Hairy nightshade Solanum villosum

Berries are light green or yellow when ripe and the leaves are so hairy that they may feel sticky.

See also

  • Sobemovirus
    • Solanum nodiflorum mottle virus
    • Solanum nodiflorum mottle virus satellite

References

  1. ^ GRIN Taxonomy
  2. ^ http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Solanum~americanum
  3. ^ http://keys.trin.org.au:8080/key-server/data/0e0f0504-0103-430d-8004-060d07080d04/media/Html/taxon/Solanum_americanum.htm
  4. ^ Electronic Flora of South Australia[1]
  5. ^ "African crop or poisonous nightshade; the enigma of poisonous or edible black nightshade solved", "African Journal of Ecology", 2005, vol. 43, pp.158-161 [2]
  6. ^ Al Chami, L.; Mendez, R.; Chataing, B.; O'Callaghan, J.; Usubilliga, A.; Lacruz, L.; "Toxicological effects of α-solamargine in experimental animals", Phytotherapy Research, 2003, vol. 17, no.3, pp.254-258 [3]
  7. ^ 'Wildflowers of Tucson - Arizona Poisonous Tucson Plants'[4]

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