Solanum viarum

"Solanum chloranthum" redirects here. This refers to the name as established by Michel Félix Dunal. Other scientists have applied this taxon to other species; see below.
Tropical Soda Apple
Closeup of flowers
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Solanum
Species: S. viarum
Binomial name
Solanum viarum
Dunal
Synonyms

See text

Solanum viarum, the Tropical Soda Apple, is a perennial shrub native to Brazil and Argentina with a prickly stem and prickly leaves. The fruit is golf ball sized with the coloring of a watermelon. It is sometimes considered an invasive species in the lower eastern coastal states of the United States and recently on the Mid North Coast of Australia.[1]

Synonyms

This species has been referred to under some other names, in particular one of which is very ambiguous:[2]

S. chloranthum as described by Poeppig based on Otto Sendtner in von Martius is now S. velutinum
S. chloranthum as described by Philipp Salzmann based on Dunal in de Candolle is now S. agrarium
S. chloranthum as described by C.P.J. Sprengel is now S. arenarium as described by Otto Sendtner
S. khasianum proper is now S. aculeatissimum as described by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin.
Not to be confused with S. acuminatum var. viridiflorum, which is now S. caavurana.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Soda apple a new threat, The Macleay Argus, 19 Oct 2010
  2. ^ Solanaceae Source (2005)

References

External links