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 (aubergine, brinjal). It is the largest genus in the nightshade family Solanaceae, comprising around 1,500 species. It also contains the so-called horse nettles (unrelated to the genus of true nettles, Urtica), as well as numerous plants cultivated for their ornamental flowers and fruit.
Solanum species show a wide range of growth habits, such as annuals and perennials, vines, subshrubs, shrubs, and small trees. Many formerly independent genera like Lycopersicon (the tomatoes) and Cyphomandra are now included in Solanum as subgenera or sections. Thus, the genus today contains roughly 1,500–2,000 species.
Name The generic name was first used by Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79) for a plant also known as , most likely S. nigrum. Its derivation is uncertain, possibly stemming from the Latin word , meaning "sun", referring to its status as a plant of the sun.
Species having the common name "nightshade" The species most commonly called nightshade in North America and Britain is Solanum dulcamara, also called bittersweet or woody nightshade (so-called because it is a scandent shrub). Its foliage and egg-shaped red berries are poisonous, the active principle being solanine, which can cause convulsions and death if taken in large doses. Black nightshades (many species in the Solanum nigrum complex, Solanum sect. Solanum) have varying levels of toxins and are considered too toxic to eat by many people in North America and Europe, but young stems and leaves or fully ripened fruit of various species are cooked and eaten by native people in North America, Africa, and Asia. Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) belongs, like Solanum, to subfamily Solanoideae of the nightshade family, but, unlike that genus, is a member of tribe Hyoscyameae (Solanum belongs to tribe Solaneae).Armando T. Hunziker 2001: The Genera of Solanaceae. A.R.G. Gantner Verlag, Ruggell, Liechtenstein. . The chemistry of Atropa species is very different from that of Solanum species and features the very toxic tropane alkaloids, the best-known of which is atropine.Frohne, Dietrich and Pfänder, Hans Jürgen. 1984 A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants : A Handbook for Pharmacists, Doctors, Toxicologists, and Biologists transl. from 2nd German ed. by Norman Grainger Bisset, London : Wolfe Atlases. Wolfe Publishing.
Taxonomy
The genus was established by Carl Linnaeus in 1753. Its subdivision has always been problematic, but slowly some sort of consensus is being achieved.
The following list is a provisional lineup of the genus' traditional subdivisions, together with some notable species. Many of the subgenera and sections might not be valid; they are used here provisionally as the phylogeny of this genus is not fully resolved yet and many species have not been reevaluated.
Cladistic analyses of DNA sequence data suggest that the present subdivisions and rankings are largely invalid. Far more subgenera would seem to warrant recognition, with Leptostemonum being the only one that can at present be clearly subdivided into sections. Notably, it includes as a major lineage several members of the traditional sections Cyphomandropsis and the old genus Cyphomandra.
Subgenus Bassovia Section Allophylla Solanum granuloso-leprosum
Section Cyphomandropsis Solanum glaucophyllum Desf. – Waxy-leaved nightshade Section Pachyphylla Solanum betaceum Cav. – Tamarillo Solanum exiguum Solanum roseum
Subgenus Leptostemonum
Section Acanthophora Solanum aculeatissimum Jacq. – Indian nightshade Solanum atropurpureum Schrank – Five-minute plant Solanum capsicoides – Cockroach berry, polohauaii (Polynesian) Solanum mammosum – Nipplefruit, fox head, cow's udder, apple of Sodom Solanum palinacanthum Dunal Solanum viarum Dunal – Tropical soda apple
Section Androceras 12 spp. Series Androceras Series Violaceiflorum Series Pacificum
Section Anisantherum Section Campanulata Section Crinitum Section Croatianum Section Erythrotrichum Solanum robustum H.L.Wendl. – Shrubby nightshade
Section Graciliflorum
Section Herposolanum Solanum wendlandii Hook.f. – Giant potatocreeper
Section Irenosolanum Solanum incompletum Dunal – Pōpolo kū mai (Hawaii) Solanum nelsonii Dunal – Nelson's horsenettle, Ākia (Hawaii) Solanum sandwicense Hook. & Arn. – Hawaiian horsenettle, Pōpoloaiakeakua (Oahu, Kauai)
Section Ischyracanthum Section Lasiocarpa Solanum lasiocarpum Dunal Solanum pseudolulo – lulo de perro (Colombia) Solanum quitoense – lulo (Colombia), naranjilla (Ecuador) Solanum sessiliflorum – Cocona
Section Melongena Solanum aculeastrum – Soda apple, sodaapple nightshade, goat apple, poison apple, "bitter-apple" Solanum campechiense – Redberry nightshade Solanum carolinense – Carolina horsenettle, radical weed, sand brier, devil's tomato, "bull nettle", "tread-softly", "apple of Sodom", "wild tomato" (southeastern United States) Solanum cataphractum (northern Western Australia, including Coronation Island) Solanum citrullifolium A.Braun – Watermelon nightshade (southern United States) Solanum dimidiatum Raf. – Torrey's nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium – Silver-leaved nightshade, prairie berry, silverleaf nettle, white horsenettle, silver nightshade, "bull-nettle", "trompillo" (Spanish); Silver-leaf bitter-apple, satansbos (South Africa) Solanum heterodoxum Dunal – Melon-leaved nightshade Solanum incanum L. Solanum linnaeanum – Devil's apple, apple of Sodom Solanum macrocarpon L. Solanum marginatum L.f. – White-margined nightshade Solanum melongena – Eggplant, aubergine (including S. ovigerum) Solanum rostratum Dunal – Buffalo bur, Texas thistle Solanum sisymbriifolium Lam. – Sticky nightshade, fire-and-ice Solanum virginianum L. Section Micracantha Solanum jamaicense Mill. – Jamaican nightshade Solanum lanceifolium Jacq. – Lance-leaved nightshade Solanum tampicense Dunal – Wetland nightshade
Section Monodolichopus Section Nycterium Section Oliganthes Solanum aethiopicum – Ethiopian eggplant, nakati, mock tomato, Ethiopian nightshade; including S. gilo (scarlet eggplant, Gilo or jiló) Solanum centrale – Australian desert raisin, bush raisin, bush sultana, "bush tomato", akatjurra (Alyawarre), kampurarpa (Pitjantjatjara), merne akatyerre (Arrernte), kutjera Solanum ellipticum – Potato bush, "bush tomato" Solanum pyracanthos Lam. – Porcupine tomato, Devil's Thorn Solanum quadriloculatum F.Muell. – "bush tomato", "wild tomato" (Australia)
Section Persicariae Solanum bahamense L. – Bahama nightshade, canker berry, berengena de playa Solanum ensifolium Dunal – Erubia
Section Polytrichum Section Pugiunculifera Section Somalanum Section Torva Solanum asteropilodes Solanum chrysotrichum Schltdl. – Giant devil's-fig Solanum lanceolatum – Orangeberry nightshade Solanum paniculatum – Jurubeba Solanum torvum – Turkey berry, devil's fig, prickly nightshade, shoo-shoo bush, wild eggplant, pea eggplant
Subgenus Lyciosolanum Solanum guineense L.
Subgenus Solanum
Also known as: Solanum sensu stricto.
Section Afrosolanum Section Anarrhichomenum Solanum baretiae
Section Archaesolanum Solanum aviculare – Poroporo (New Zealand), kangaroo apple (Australia)
Section Basarthrum Solanum catilliflorum Solanum muricatum – Pepino dulce, pepino melon, melon pear, "pepino", "tree melon" Solanum perlongistylum Solanum tergosericeum
Section Benderianum Section Brevantherum Solanum bullatum Solanum erianthum D.Don – Potato tree, "mullein nightshade" Solanum mauritianum – Woolly nightshade, ear-leaved nightshade, flannel weed, bugweed, tobacco weed, kerosene plant, "wild tobacco" (Australia) Solanum evolvuloides
Section Dulcamara Solanum crispum – Chilean potato vine, Chilean nightshade, Chilean potato tree Solanum dulcamara – Bittersweet Solanum imbaburense Solanum laxum Spreng. – Jasmine nightshade Solanum leiophyllum Solanum seaforthianum Andrews – Brazilian nightshade Solanum triquetrum Cav. – Texas nightshade Solanum wallacei – Wallace's nightshade, Catalina nightshade, Clokey's nightshade, "wild tomato" (including S. clokeyi) Solanum xanti – Purple nightshade, San Diego nightshade
Section Herpystichum Section Holophylla Solanum diphyllum L. – Twin-leaved nightshade Solanum pseudocapsicum – Jerusalem cherry, Madeira winter cherry, "winter cherry" (including S. capsicastrum) Solanum pseudoquina (including S. inaequale Vell.)
Section Juglandifolia Solanum juglandifolium Solanum ochranthum
Section Lemurisolanum Section Lycopersicoides Solanum lycopersicoides Dunal – Peruvian wolfpeach Solanum sitiens
Section Lycopersicon Also known as: tomato lineage.
Solanum arcanum Peralta – "wild tomato" Solanum chilense Solanum corneliomulleri Solanum huaylasense Peralta Solanum peruvianum L. – Peruvian nightshade, "wild tomato" Solanum cheesmaniae (L.Riley) Fosberg Solanum chmielewskii Solanum galapagense S.C.Darwin & Peralta Solanum habrochaites Solanum lycopersicum – Tomato Solanum neorickii Solanum pennellii Solanum pimpinellifolium – Currant tomato
Section Macronesiotes Section Normania †Solanum nava (?)
Section Petota Also known as the "potato lineage". Including: subsections Estolonifera and Potatoe. Solanum albornozii Solanum bulbocastanum – Ornamental nightshade Solanum bukasovii Juz. ex Rybin Solanum burtonii Solanum cardiophyllum – Heart-leaved nightshade Solanum chilliasense Solanum commersonii Dunal – Commerson's nightshade Solanum demissum Lindl. – Dwarf wild potato Solanum jamesii – Wild potato Solanum minutifoliolum Solanum paucijugum Solanum phureja Juz. & Bukasov Solanum pinnatisectum Dunal – Tansy-leaved nightshade Solanum regularifolium Solanum stoloniferum Schltdl. – Tigna potato, Fendler's horsenettle Solanum stenotomum (including S. goniocalyx) Solanum ternatum (including S. ternifolium) Solanum tuberosum – Potato
Section Pteroidea Section Quadrangulare Section Regmandra Section Solanum Solanum adscendens Sendtner – Sonoita nightshade (Americas) Solanum americanum Mill. – American nightshade, American black nightshade, West Indian nightshade, glossy nightshade (Americas, Hawaii) Solanum chenopodioides Lam. – Goosefoot nightshade, slender nightshade (including S. gracilius) Solanum douglasii Dunal – Green-spotted nightshade Solanum alatum – Eastern black nightshade Solanum interius Rydb. Solanum melongena L. Solanum nigrescens M.Martens & Galeotti – Divine nightshade Solanum nigrum L. – European black nightshade, "black nightshade" S. nigrum guineense – "Garden Huckleberry" Solanum pseudogracile Heiser – Glowing nightshade Solanum retroflexum – Wonderberry, sunberry Solanum sarrachoides – Hairy nightshade Solanum scabrum Mill. – Garden huckleberry Solanum triflorum Nutt. – Cut-leaved nightshade Solanum villosum Mill. – Yellow nightshade
Notable species not otherwise placed
Solanum abutiloides – Dwarf tamarillo Solanum amygdalifolium Steud. Solanum bellum Solanum cajanumense Solanum chimborazense Solanum chrysasteroides Solanum cinnamomeum Solanum conocarpum Rich. ex Dunal – Marron bacoba Solanum cowiei Martine Solanum cremastanthemum Solanum crinitum Solanum davisense Whalen – Davis' horsenettle Solanum densepilosulum Solanum donianum Walp. – Mullein nightshade Solanum dolichorhachis Solanum etuberosum – representative member of a clade that gave rise to the potatoes (petota clade) by hybridization with a member of the tomato clade Solanum fallax Solanum ferox L. – Hairy-fruited eggplant, Thai hairy-fruited eggplant Solanum fortunense Solanum furcatum – Forked nightshade Solanum glabratum Dunal Solanum haleakalaense H.St.John Solanum hindsianum Benth. – Hinds' nightshade Solanum hypermegethes Solanum hypocalycosarcum Solanum interandinum Solanum latiflorum Solanum leucodendron Solanum lumholtzianum Bartlett – Sonoran nightshade