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Solanum

Genus of flowering plants From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Solanum
For other uses, see Solanum (disambiguation).
"Horsenettle" and variants redirect here. If used for a particular species, this name usually applies to the Carolina horsenettle (S. carolinense)

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.

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Type species ...
Solanum
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Brazilian nightshade (Solanum seaforthianum)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Subfamily: Solanoideae
Tribe: Solaneae
Genus: Solanum
L.[1]
Type species
Solanum nigrum L.[2]
Subgenera

Bassovia
Leptostemonum
Lyciosolanum
Solanum
(but see text)

Synonyms
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.
Close
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Unripe fruit of Solanum lycopersicum (tomato)

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 strychnos, most likely S. nigrum. Its derivation is uncertain, possibly stemming from the Latin word sol, meaning "sun", referring to its status as a plant of the sun.[3]

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).[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.[5]

Taxonomy

Summarize
Perspective
See also: List of Solanum species

The genus was established by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.[6] Its subdivision has always been problematic, but slowly some sort of consensus is being achieved.[citation needed]

The following list is a provisional lineup of the genus' traditional subdivisions, together with some notable species.[6] 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.[citation needed]

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.[1]

Subgenus Bassovia

Section Allophylla

Section Cyphomandropsis

Section Pachyphylla

Subgenus Leptostemonum

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Five-minute plant (S. atropurpureum) fruit
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Solanum palinacanthum
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Shrubby nightshade (S. robustum) flowers
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Giant potatocreeper (S. wendlandii) flowers
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Porcupine tomato (S. pyracanthos) fruit

Section Acanthophora

Section Androceras: 12 spp.[7]

  • Series Androceras
  • Series Violaceiflorum
  • Series Pacificum

Section Anisantherum
Section Campanulata
Section Crinitum
Section Croatianum
Section Erythrotrichum

Section Graciliflorum[verification needed]
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

  • Solanum guineense L.

Subgenus Solanum sensu stricto

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Solanum erianthum
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Jasmine nightshade (S. laxum) flowers
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Currant tomato (S. pimpinellifolium) fruit
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Andean black potatoes (S. tuberosum)
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Turkey berry (S. torvum) flowers
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Yellow nightshade (S. villosum) fruit

Section Afrosolanum
Section Anarrhichomenum

  • Solanum baretiae[9]

Section Archaesolanum

Section Basarthrum

Section Benderianum
Section Brevantherum

Section Dulcamara

Section Herpystichum
Section Holophylla

Section Juglandifolia

  • Solanum juglandifolium
  • Solanum ochranthum

Section Lemurisolanum
Section Lycopersicoides

  • Solanum lycopersicoides Dunal – Peruvian wolfpeach
  • Solanum sitiens

Section Lycopersicon

Section Macronesiotes
Section Normania

  • †Solanum nava (?)

Section Petota

Section Pteroidea
Section Quadrangulare
Section Regmandra
Section Solanum

Other notable species

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Forked nightshade (S. furcatum)
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Bluewitch nightshade (S. umbelliferum) flowers

Formerly placed here

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Lycianthes rantonnetii and its congeners were often placed in Solanum

Some plants of other genera were formerly placed in Solanum:

  • Chamaesaracha coronopus (as S. coronopus)
  • Cordia alliodora (as S. mucronatum)
  • Lycianthes biflora (as S. multifidum Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don)
  • Lycianthes denticulata (as S. gouakai var. angustifolium and var. latifolium)
  • Lycianthes lycioides (as S. lycioides var. angustifolium)
  • Lycianthes mociniana (as S. uniflorum Dunal in Poir. and S. uniflorum Sessé & Moc.)
  • Lycianthes rantonnetii (as S. rantonnetii, S. urbanum var. ovatifolium and var. typicum)
  • Undetermined species of Lycianthes have been referred to under names such as S. chrysophyllum, S. ciliatum Blume ex Miq., S. corniculatum Hiern, S. lanuginosum, S. retrofractum var. acuminatum, S. violaceum Blume, S. violifolium f. typicum, S. virgatum notst β albiflorum, S. uniflorum Lag. or S. uniflorum var. berterianum.

Ecology

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

Toxicity

Most parts of the plants,[13] especially the green parts and unripe fruit, are poisonous to humans (although not necessarily to other animals), with some species even being deadly.

Uses

Summarize
Perspective

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,[14] Kauai, Lanai, Marion, Maui, Molokai, Niihau, Oahu, Owyhee, Parma, Payette, Red Lode, Super Star, Surecrop, Tuckers Forcing, V 121, Vantage, Vetomold, and Waltham.)[15]
  • 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

External links

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