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.
Solanum viarum
Fruit
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 coloration of a watermelon. It is considered an invasive species in the lower eastern coastal states of the United States[1] and recently on the Mid North Coast of Australia.[2] Seen in the Southern Peninsula area of Cape Town as of 01 November 2014.

Synonyms

This species has several synonyms, one of which is particularly ambiguous:[3]

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.

Ecology

The tropical soda apple leaf beetle (Gratiana boliviana) has been used successfully as an agent of biological pest control to reduce the abundance of this plant in the United States, particularly in Florida.[4]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=SOVI2
  2. ↑ Soda apple a new threat, The Macleay Argus, 19 Oct 2010
  3. ↑ Solanaceae Source (2006): – Solanum viarum. April 2006. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  4. ↑ Medal, J. C. and J. P. Cuda. (2010). Establishment and initial impact of the leaf-beetle Gratiana boliviana (Chrysomelidae), first biocontrol agent released against tropical soda apple in Florida. Florida Entomologist 93(4) 493-500.

External links

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