solanum

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}}

{{Other uses}}

{{Hatnote|"Horsenettle" and variants redirect here. If used for a particular species, this name usually applies to the Carolina horsenettle (S. carolinense)}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range =

| image = Starr_020323-0062_Solanum_seaforthianum.jpg

| image_caption = Brazilian nightshade (Solanum seaforthianum)

| display_parents = 3

| taxon = Solanum

| authority = L.{{cite web | url = http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?11264 | title = Solanum L. | work = Germplasm Resources Information Network | publisher = United States Department of Agriculture | date = 2009-09-01 | access-date = 2013-07-15 }}

| subdivision_ranks = Subgenera

| subdivision = Bassovia

Leptostemonum

Lyciosolanum

Solanum

(but see text)

| synonyms = {{hidden begin|title = List}}

  • Amatula Medik.
  • Androcera Nutt.
  • Antimion Raf.
  • Aquartia Jacq.
  • Artorhiza Raf.
  • Bassovia Aubl.
  • Battata Hill
  • Bosleria A.Nelson
  • Ceranthera Raf.
  • Cliocarpus Miers
  • Codylis Raf.
  • Cyathostyles Schott ex Meisn.
  • Cyphomandra Mart. ex Sendtn.
  • Diamonon Raf.
  • Dimorphylia Cortés
  • Dulcamara Moench
  • Fontqueriella Rothm.
  • Lycomela Heist. ex Fabr.
  • Lycopersicon Mill.
  • Melongena Mill.
  • Normania Lowe
  • Nycterium Vent.
  • Pallavicinia De Not.
  • Parmentiera Raf.
  • Petagnia Raf.
  • Pheliandra Werderm.
  • Pionandra Miers
  • Pseudocapsicum Medik.
  • Psolanum Neck.
  • Scubulon Raf.
  • Solanastrum Heist. ex Fabr.
  • Solanocharis Bitter
  • Solanopsis Börner
  • Triguera Cav.

{{hidden end}}

|type_species = Solanum nigrum L.Solanum | International Plant Names Index. (n.d.). Retrieved August 11, 2023, from https://www.ipni.org/n/30000630-2

}}

File:Solanum Lycopersicum tomkin 1.jpg)]]

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 {{wikt-lang|la|strychnos}}, most likely S. nigrum. Its derivation is uncertain, possibly stemming from the Latin word {{wikt-lang|la|sol}}, meaning "sun", referring to its status as a plant of the sun.{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2ndDtX-RjYkC | title = CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Vol. 4, R-Z | first = U. | last = Quattrocchi | publisher = Taylor and Francis | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-0-8493-2678-3 | page = 2058 }}

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. {{ISBN|3-904144-77-4}}. 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

{{See also|List of Solanum species}}

The genus was established by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.{{cite web |title=Solanum Phylogeny |url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/solanaceaesource/taxonomy/phylogeny/index.jsp |access-date=2009-11-01 |work=Solanaceae Source |publisher=Natural History Museum}} Its subdivision has always been problematic, but slowly some sort of consensus is being achieved.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

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.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

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

Section Cyphomandropsis

Section Pachyphylla

=Subgenus ''Leptostemonum''=

File:Solanum atropurpureum fruits.jpg (S. atropurpureum) fruit]]

File:Solanum palinacanthum (cropped).jpg]]

File:Starr 020913-0042 Solanum robustum.jpg (S. robustum) flowers]]

File:Starr 980529-4264 Solanum wendlandii.jpg (S. wendlandii) flowers]]

File:Solanum pyracanthum 05 ies.jpg (S. pyracanthos) fruit]]

Section Acanthophora

Section Androceras: 12 spp.{{Cite journal |last1=Whalen |first1=Michael D |year=1979 |title=Allozyme Variation and Evolution in Solanum Section Androceras |journal=Systematic Botany |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=203–222 |doi=10.2307/2418419 |jstor=2418419|bibcode=1979SysBo...4..203W }}

  • Series Androceras
  • Series Violaceiflorum
  • Series Pacificum

Section Anisantherum

Section Campanulata

Section Crinitum

Section Croatianum

Section Erythrotrichum

Section Graciliflorum{{Verify source|date=October 2008}}

Section Herposolanum

Section Irenosolanum

Section Ischyracanthum

Section Lasiocarpa

Section Melongena

Section Micracantha

Section Monodolichopus

Section Nycterium

Section Oliganthes

Section Persicariae

Section Polytrichum

Section Pugiunculifera

Section Somalanum

Section Torva

=Subgenus ''Lyciosolanum''=

=Subgenus ''Solanum sensu stricto''=

File:Solanum erianthum Don W IMG 1621.jpg]]

File:Solanum jasminoides1.jpg (S. laxum) flowers]]

File:Lycopersicon pimpinellifolium1.jpg (S. pimpinellifolium) fruit]]

File:Andean black potato 2.JPG black potatoes (S. tuberosum)]]

File:Solanum torvum 3.jpg (S. torvum) flowers]]

File:Solanum villosum 01-10-2005 11.10.56.JPG (S. villosum) fruit]]

Section Afrosolanum

Section Anarrhichomenum

  • Solanum baretiae{{cite journal |last1=Tepe |first1=E. J. |last2=Ridley |first2=G. |last3=Bohs |first3=L. |year=2012 |title=A new species of Solanum named for Jeanne Baret, an overlooked contributor to the history of botany |journal=PhytoKeys |issue=8 |pages=37–47 |doi=10.3897/phytokeys.8.2101 |pmc=3254248 |pmid=22287929 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2012PhytK...8...37T }}

Section Archaesolanum

Section Basarthrum

  • Solanum catilliflorum{{cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=G. J. |last2=Martine |first2=C. T. |last3=Prohens |first3=J. |last4=Nuez |first4=F. |year=2006 |title=Solanum perlongistylum and S. catilliflorum, New Endemic Peruvian Species of Solanum, Section Basarthrum, Are Close Relatives of the Domesticated Pepino, S. muricatum |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/37293 |journal=Novon |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=161–67 |doi=10.3417/1055-3177(2006)16[161:SPASCN]2.0.CO;2 |issn=1055-3177 |s2cid=85629504}}
  • Solanum muricatum – Pepino dulce, pepino melon, melon pear, "pepino", "tree melon"
  • Solanum perlongistylum
  • Solanum tergosericeum{{Cite journal |last=Ochoa |first=C. M. |year=2006 |title=Solanum tergosericeum (Solanaceae sect. Basarthrum): A new species from Peru |journal=Phytologia |volume=88 |issue=2 |pages=212–15 |doi=10.5962/bhl.part.27433 |doi-access=free}}

Section Benderianum

Section Brevantherum

Section Dulcamara

Section Herpystichum

Section Holophylla

Section Juglandifolia

Section Lemurisolanum

Section Lycopersicoides

Section Lycopersicon

Section Macronesiotes

Section Normania

Section Petota

Section Pteroidea

Section Quadrangulare

Section Regmandra

Section Solanum

=Other notable species=

File:Solanum furcatum I.JPG (S. furcatum)]]

File:Solanum umbelliferum Bluewitch.jpg (S. umbelliferum) flowers]]

=Formerly placed here=

File:Lycianthes rantonnei.jpg and its congeners were often placed in Solanum]]

Some plants of other genera were formerly placed in Solanum:

Ecology

Solanum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species (butterflies and moths).

Toxicity

Most parts of the plants,{{Cite web |title=Archived TJM 1993 treatment for SOLANUM douglasii |url=https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment?7625,7682,7687 |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=ucjeps.berkeley.edu}} especially the green parts and unripe fruit, are poisonous to humans (although not necessarily to other animals), with some species even being deadly.

Uses

Many species in the genus bear some edible parts, such as fruits, leaves, or tubers. Three crops in particular have been bred and harvested for consumption by humans for centuries, and are now cultivated on a global scale:

  • Tomato, S. lycopersicum
  • Tomato varieties are sometimes bred from both S. lycopersicum and wild tomato species such as S. pimpinellifolium, S. peruvianum, S. cheesmanii, S. galapagense, S. chilense, etc. (such varieties include—among others—Bicentennial, Dwarf Italian, Epoch, Golden Sphere, Hawaii, Ida Red, Indigo Rose,{{cite web|url= http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/purple-tomato-debuts-indigo-rose |title=Purple tomato debuts as 'Indigo Rose' | work = Extension Service |publisher= Oregon state university |date= 2012-01-27|access-date=2018-06-25}} Kauai, Lanai, Marion, Maui, Molokai, Niihau, Oahu, Owyhee, Parma, Payette, Red Lode, Super Star, Surecrop, Tuckers Forcing, V 121, Vantage, Vetomold, and Waltham.){{cite web|url= http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cucurbit/wehner/vegcult/ |title= Vegetable Cultivar Descriptions for North America | Cucurbit Breeding |publisher= NCSU |access-date=2018-06-25}}
  • Potato, S. tuberosum, fourth largest food crop.
  • Less important but cultured relatives used in small amounts include S. stenotomum, S. phureja, S. goniocalyx, S. ajanhuiri, S. chaucha, S. juzepczukii, S. curtilobum.
  • Eggplant (also known as brinjal or aubergine), S. melongena

Other species are significant food crops regionally, such as Ethiopian eggplant or scarlet eggplant (S. aethiopicum), naranjilla or lulo (S. quitoense), cocona (S. sessiliflorum), turkey berry (S. torvum), pepino or pepino melon (S. muricatum), tamarillo (S. betaceum), wolf apple (S. lycocarpum), garden huckleberry (S. scabrum) and "bush tomatoes" (several Australian species).

= Ornamentals =

The species most widely seen in cultivation as ornamental plants are:

= Medicine =

Several species are locally used in folk medicine, particularly by native people who have long employed them.

References

{{Reflist}}