Solanoideae is a subfamily of the flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

 family Solanaceae

Solanaceae

Solanaceae are a family of flowering plants that include a number of important agricultural crops as well as many toxic plants. The name of the family comes from the Latin Solanum "the nightshade plant", but the further etymology of that word is unclear...

, and is sister to the subfamily Nicotianoideae. Within Solanaceae, Solanoideae contains some of the most economically important genera and species, such as the tomato

Tomato

The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...

 (Solanum lycopersicon), potato

Potato

The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...

 (Solanum tuberosum), eggplant (Solanum melongena), chili peppers (Capsicum

Capsicum

Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas where they have been cultivated for thousands of years, but they are now also cultivated worldwide, used as spices, vegetables, and medicines - and have become are a key element in...

spp.), mandrakes (Mandragora

Mandrake (plant)

Mandrake is the common name for members of the plant genus Mandragora, particularly the species Mandragora officinarum, belonging to the nightshades family...

spp.), and Jimson Weed (Datura stramonium

Datura stramonium

Datura stramonium, known by the common names Jimson weed, devil's trumpet, devil's weed, thorn apple, tolguacha, Jamestown weed, stinkweed, locoweed, datura, pricklyburr, devil's cucumber, Hell's Bells, moonflower and, in South Africa, malpitte and mad seeds, is a common weed in the...

).

This subfamily consists of several well-established tribes

Tribe (biology)

In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...

: Capsiceae, Datureae

Datureae

Daturae is a tribe of flowering plants in the subfamily Solanoideae of the family Solanaceae. It comprises two genera: Datura and Brugmansia....

, Hyoscyameae

Hyoscyameae

Hyoscyameae is a tribe of flowering plants in the subfamily Solanoideae of the family Solanaceae. It comprises two genera: Atropa and Hyoscyamus....

, Juanulloeae, Lycieae

Lycieae

Lycieae is a tribe of flowering plants in the subfamily Solanoideae of the family Solanaceae. It comprises two genera: Lycium and Grabowskia....

, Nicandreae, Nolaneae, Physaleae

Physaleae

Physaleae is a tribe of flowering plants in the subfamily Solanoideae of the family Solanaceae.-Genera:...

, Solandreae, and Solaneae. The subfamily also contains the contended tribes Mandragoreae and Jaboroseae.

Tribal Relationships

The relationship between the tribes

Tribe (biology)

In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...

 has recently been well described. Nicandreae is the most basal

Basal (phylogenetics)

In phylogenetics, a basal clade is the earliest clade to branch in a larger clade; it appears at the base of a cladogram.A basal group forms an outgroup to the rest of the clade, such as in the following example:...

 tribe of the family, placing sister to the other 9 (or by some counts 11) tribes. Datureae

Datureae

Daturae is a tribe of flowering plants in the subfamily Solanoideae of the family Solanaceae. It comprises two genera: Datura and Brugmansia....

 lies sister to Nicandreae, Physaleae

Physaleae

Physaleae is a tribe of flowering plants in the subfamily Solanoideae of the family Solanaceae.-Genera:...

, Capsiceae, and Solaneae. Solaneae + (Physaleae + Capsiceae) form a well-supported monophyletic

Monophyly

In common cladistic usage, a monophyletic group is a taxon which forms a clade, meaning that it contains all the descendants of the possibly hypothetical closest common ancestor of the members of the group. The term is synonymous with the uncommon term holophyly...

 group, but the exact branching within the clade

Clade

A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...

remains unclear.