Wikipedia

Solanum

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
Brazilian nightshade (Solanum seaforthianum)
Scientific classification Edit this 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.
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

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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"

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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

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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

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Section Allophylla

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Section Cyphomandropsis

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Section Pachyphylla

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Subgenus Leptostemonum

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

Section Acanthophora

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Section Androceras

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12 spp.[7]

  • Series Androceras
  • Series Violaceiflorum
  • Series Pacificum

Section Anisantherum

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Section Campanulata

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Section Crinitum

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Section Croatianum

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Section Erythrotrichum

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Section Graciliflorum

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Section Herposolanum

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Section Irenosolanum

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Section Ischyracanthum

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Section Lasiocarpa

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Section Melongena

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Section Micracantha

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Section Monodolichopus

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Section Nycterium

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Section Oliganthes

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Section Persicariae

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Section Polytrichum

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Section Pugiunculifera

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Section Somalanum

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Section Torva

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Subgenus Lyciosolanum

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Subgenus Solanum

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

Also known as: Solanum sensu stricto.

Section Afrosolanum

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Section Anarrhichomenum

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Section Archaesolanum

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Section Basarthrum

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Section Benderianum

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Section Brevantherum

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Section Dulcamara

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Section Herpystichum

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Section Holophylla

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Section Juglandifolia

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Section Lemurisolanum

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Section Lycopersicoides

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Section Lycopersicon

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Section Macronesiotes

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Section Normania

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Section Petota

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Also known as the "potato lineage". Including: subsections Estolonifera and Potatoe.

Section Pteroidea

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Section Quadrangulare

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Section Regmandra

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Section Solanum

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Notable species not otherwise placed

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Forked nightshade (S. furcatum)
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:

Phylogeny

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The following phylogeny of Solanaceae is from Zhang et al. (2025) figure 1B. It is based on a consensus of 500 trees randomly sampled from 1-Mb genomic windows with 200-kb step size.[13]

Solanum

Tomato (= sect. Lycopersicon)

Petota (Tomato × Etuberosum)

Etuberosum

Anarrhicomenum

Basarthrum

Moreilloid ("Maurella", "Morella")

Dulcamaroid

 Grade I

Brevantherum

Geminata

Crinitum

Sisymbriifolium

Acanthophora

Lasiocarpa

Androceras

Eastern Hemisphere Spiny

 "Spiny" (≈ subgen. Leptostemonum)
 Clade II

The non-italicized names inside of Solanum refer to the major clade names within Solanum. These names usually include the similarly-named section but do not have taxonomic standing.[13]

Ecology

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Solanum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species (butterflies and moths).[14]

Toxicity

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Most parts of the plants,[15] especially the green parts and unripe fruit, are poisonous to humans (although not necessarily to other animals), with some species even being deadly.

Uses

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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,[16] Kauai, Lanai, Marion, Maui, Molokai, Niihau, Oahu, Owyhee, Parma, Payette, Red Lode, Super Star, Surecrop, Tuckers Forcing, V 121, Vantage, Vetomold, and Waltham.)[17]
  • 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

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

Medicine

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

References

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  1. 1 2 "Solanum L." Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2009-09-01. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
  2. ↑ Solanum | International Plant Names Index. (n.d.). Retrieved August 11, 2023, from https://www.ipni.org/n/30000630-2
  3. ↑ Quattrocchi, U. (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Vol. 4, R-Z. Taylor and Francis. p. 2058. ISBN 978-0-8493-2678-3.
  4. ↑ Armando T. Hunziker 2001: The Genera of Solanaceae. A.R.G. Gantner Verlag, Ruggell, Liechtenstein. ISBN 3-904144-77-4.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. 1 2 "Solanum Phylogeny". Solanaceae Source. Natural History Museum. Retrieved 2009-11-01.
  7. ↑ Whalen, Michael D (1979). "Allozyme Variation and Evolution in Solanum Section Androceras". Systematic Botany. 4 (3): 203–222. Bibcode:1979SysBo...4..203W. doi:10.2307/2418419. JSTOR 2418419.
  8. ↑ "Factsheet – Solanum cataphractum". Electronic Flora of South Australia. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  9. ↑ Tepe, E. J.; Ridley, G.; Bohs, L. (2012). "A new species of Solanum named for Jeanne Baret, an overlooked contributor to the history of botany". PhytoKeys (8): 37–47. Bibcode:2012PhytK...8...37T. doi:10.3897/phytokeys.8.2101. PMC 3254248. PMID 22287929.
  10. 1 2 Anderson, G. J.; Martine, C. T.; Prohens, J.; Nuez, F. (2006). "Solanum perlongistylum and S. catilliflorum, New Endemic Peruvian Species of Solanum, Section Basarthrum, Are Close Relatives of the Domesticated Pepino, S. muricatum". Novon. 16 (2): 161–67. doi:10.3417/1055-3177(2006)16[161:SPASCN]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 1055-3177. S2CID 85629504.
  11. ↑ Ochoa, C. M. (2006). "Solanum tergosericeum (Solanaceae sect. Basarthrum): A new species from Peru". Phytologia. 88 (2): 212–15. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.27433.
  12. ↑ Reina, Antonio Maria Martinez; Zumaqué, Lilibeth Tordecilla; Martínez, Liliana María Grandett; Pinto, María del Valle Rodríguez (2020-08-25). "Adopcion Adopción de la variedad de berenjena C015 (Solanum melongena L.) en la región Caribe colombiana: measuring adoption". Ciencia y Agricultura (in Spanish). 17 (3): 1–10. doi:10.19053/01228420.v17.n3.2020.11062. ISSN 2539-0899. S2CID 225303476.
  13. 1 2 3 Zhang, Zhiyang; Zhang, Pingxian; Ding, Yiyuan; Wang, Zefu; Ma, Zhaoxu; Gagnon, Edeline; Jia, Yuxin; Cheng, Lin; Bao, Zhigui; Liu, Zinan; Wu, Yaoyao; Hu, Yong; Lian, Qun; Lin, Weichao; Wang, Nan; Ye, Keyi; Wang, Hongru; Zhang, Jinzhe; Zhou, Yongfeng; Liu, Liang; Li, Suhua; Lucas, William J.; Särkinen, Tiina; Knapp, Sandra; Rieseberg, Loren H.; Liu, Jianquan; Huang, Sanwen (July 2025). "Ancient hybridization underlies tuberization and radiation of the potato lineage". Cell. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2025.06.034.
  14. ↑ del Campo C., Marta L.; Renwick, J. Alan A. (8 October 2003). "Dependence on host constituents controlling food acceptance by Manduca sexta larvae". Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 93 (2): 209–215.
  15. ↑ "Archived TJM 1993 treatment for Solanum douglasii". ucjeps.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
  16. ↑ "Purple tomato debuts as 'Indigo Rose'". Extension Service. Oregon state university. 2012-01-27. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  17. ↑ "Vegetable Cultivar Descriptions for North America | Cucurbit Breeding". NCSU. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  18. ↑ RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 978-1405332965.

Further reading

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Updated taxonomic treatments not yet integrated:

General references:

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  • Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to Solanum at Wikimedia Commons
  • Wikispecies logo Data related to Solanum at Wikispecies
  • Dressler, S.; Schmidt, M. & Zizka, G. (2014). "Solanum". African plants – a Photo Guide. Frankfurt/Main: Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg.
  • Meet the TomTato: Tomatoes and potatoes grown as one – CBS News (September 26, 2013)
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