Yellow-fruit nightshade

Solanum virginianum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Solanum
Species: S. virginianum
Binomial name
Solanum virginianum
L., 1753
Synonyms[1]
  • Solanum mairei H. Lév.
  • Solanum xanthocarpum Schrad. & H. Wendl.

Solanum virginianum, also called Surattense nightshade,[2] yellow-fruit nightshade, yellow-berried nightshade, Thai green eggplant, Thai striped eggplant (from the unripe fruit),[3] is a species of nightshade native to Asia (Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iran, China, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia), and is adventive in Egypt. It is a medicinal plant used in India, but the fruit is poisonous.[4]

Description

The ripe yellow fruits are around 3 cm in diameter.[5] The plant has a shrub habit and is covered in sharp thorns which can be green or purple-ish. Flowers are typical of the solanum genus with five petals and can be white or purple with adnate yellow stamens emerging as a ring from the centre.

Traditional medicine

In the tribes of Nilgiris, the plant is used to treat a whitlow (finger abscess): the finger is inserted into a ripe fruit for a few minutes.[5] In Nepal, a decoction of root is taken twice a day for seven days to treat cough, asthma and chest pain.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Solanum virginianum". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  3. ↑ René T. J. Cappers, Reinder Neef, Renée M. Bekker, Digital Atlas of Economic Plants: Acanthaceae - Hypoxidaceae, Vol. 2A, Barkhuis, 2009, p. 269
  4. ↑ Michel H. Porcher, Know your eggplants - Part 4:The related Nightshades
  5. 1 2 Rémi Tournebize, Points on the ethno-ecological knowledge and practices among four Scheduled Tribes of the Nilgiris: Toda, Kota, Alu Kurumba and Irula, with emphasis on Toda ethnobotany, Institute of Research for Development (Marseille), Thesis 2013, p. 103
  6. ↑ RB Mahato, RP Chaudhary, Ethnomedicinal study and antibacterial activities of selected plants of Palpa district, Nepal, Scientific World, Vol. 3, No. 3, July 2005, p. 29[4]
  • "Solanum virginianum L." Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
  • "Solanum virginianum L." National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).


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