Solanum seaforthianum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Solanum
Species:
S. seaforthianum
Binomial name
Solanum seaforthianum

Solanum seaforthianum, the Brazilian nightshade,[3] is a flowering evergreen vine of the family Solanaceae native to tropical South America. As a member of the Solanum genus, it is related to such plants as the tomato and potato. It is characterized by clusters of four to seven leaves and can climb to a height of 6 m (20 ft) given enough room. It blooms in the mid to late summer with clusters of star-shaped purple inflorescence followed by scarlet marble-sized berries. The plant is highly heat resistant, but cannot tolerate frost conditions. The plant contains modest amounts of various tropane alkaloids such as atropine, scopolamine and hyoscyamine and should be considered mildly toxic and inedible.[4] Promising molluscicidal and schistosomicidal activities were displayed for the S. seaforthianum extracts and fractions which are attributed to the glycoalkaloid content.[5]

The species has become widely naturalised outside its native range and is an invasive species in Australia, Africa, Indochina, the Pacific Islands and India, choking native vegetation and poisoning livestock.[6]

Solanum seaforthianum smothering native vegetation, Queensland.

References

  1. ↑ "Solanum seaforthianum Andrews". Plants of the World Online. The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. n.d. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Solanum seaforthianum Andrews". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000. n.d. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  3. ↑ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Solanum seaforthianum". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  4. ↑ Janaki-Ammal, E.K.; Viswanathan, T.V. (1975). "A new garden plant for India: tetraploid Solanum seaforthianum". Indian Horticulture. Sept 1975: 25.
  5. ↑ Alsherbiny MA, El Badawy SA, Elbedewy H, Ezzat SM, Elsakhawy FS, Abdel-Kawy MA (19 Feb 2018). "Comparative Molluscicidal and Schistosomicidal Potentiality of Two Solanum Species and Its Isolated Glycoalkaloids". Pharmacognosy Research. 10 (1): 113–117. doi:10.4103/pr.pr_71_17 (inactive 1 August 2023). PMC 5855367. PMID 29568198. Archived from the original on 29 February 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2018.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of August 2023 (link)
  6. ↑ "Factsheet - Solanum seaforthianum (Brazilian Nightshade)". lucidcentral.org.

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