Solanum scabrum

Solanum scabrum, also known as garden huckleberry,[1] is an annual or perennial. The origin of the species is uncertain, although Linnaeus attributed it to Africa, but it also occurs in North America, and is naturalized in many countries. In Africa it is cultivated as a leaf vegetable and for dye from the berries.[2]

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

Description

An annual or short-lived perennial herb to 1 m tall, hairless or sparsely hairy. The leaves are usually ovate, 7–12 cm long and 5–8 cm wide, with petioles 1.5–7 cm long. The inflorescence is simple or sometimes branched with 9–12 flowers. The white corolla is stellate, 15–20 mm diam., and sometimes tinged purple and with yellow/green basal star. The berries are globular, 10–17 mm diam., purple-black. The seeds are 1.8–2.2 mm long, pale or stained purple.[3]

Food

Solanum scabrum is grown as an edible leaf crop in Africa. It is the most intensively cultivated species for leaf cropping within the Solanum nigrum complex, and as such has undergone genetic selection by farmers for leaf size and other characteristics.[2] Njama njama is a Cameroonian cuisine dish made with the leaves.

Dye

In Africa a stocky form of Solanum scabrum is cultivated as a dye crop using the ripe berries.[2]

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References
  1. "BSBI List 2007". Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-01-25. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  2. Manoko,M.L.K.,van den Berg,R.G., Feron,R.M.C.,van der Weerden,G.M., Mariani,C., Genetic diversity of the African hexaploid species Solanum scabrum Mill. and Solanum nigrum L. (Solanaceae), Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, Volume 55, Number 3, 409-418.
  3. Factsheet Solanum scabrum, Flora of South Australia
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