Solanum linnaeanum
Encyclopedia
- "Devil's apple" and variants redirect here. This name is also used for the unrelated Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum).
Solanum
Solanum, the nightshades, horsenettles and relatives, is a large and diverse genus of annual and perennial plants. They grow as forbs, vines, subshrubs, shrubs, and small trees, and often have attractive fruit and flowers. Many formerly independent genera like Lycopersicon or Cyphomandra are...
species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
known as Devil's Apple and in some places where it is introduced as "Apple of Sodom
Apple of Sodom (disambiguation)
Apple of Sodom, Calotropis procera is a plant native to the Dead Sea and Sodom, Israel and other desert regions.Apple of Sodom may also refer to:Plants:* Solanum carolinense , native to North America...
". The latter name is also for other nightshades and entirely different plants elsewhere.
This poisonous plant bearing 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...
-like fruit is native to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and considered to be an invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, and other Pacific Islands
Pacific Islands
The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....
.
Solbec Pharmaceuticals has developed Coramsine
Coramsine
Coramsine or Coramsine/SBP002 is a chemotherapeutic and immunomodulating agent whose primary ingredients are two solasodine glycoalkaloids, solasonine and solamargine, derived from Solanum linnaeanum ....
, a 1:1 mixture of the alkaloids solamargine
Solamargine
Solamargine is a poisonous glycoalkaloid chemical compound that occurs in plants of the Solanaceae family, such as potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplants....
and solasonine
Solasonine
Solasonine is a poisonous glycoside chemical compound. Solasonine occurs in plants of the Solanaceae family....
extracted from Solanum linnaeanum. A protocol for Phase II trials against advanced solid tumors was presented in 2005.
Synonyms
Due to confusion about what speciesSpecies
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
the original Solanum sodomeum of Carl Linnaeus referred to, the old description was discarded and the plant redescribed as currently understood. A new taxon
Taxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...
honoring Linnaeus was chosen. A number of invalid taxa have thus become attached to the Devil's Apple:
- Solanum astrophorum Jan (nomen nudumNomen nudumThe phrase nomen nudum is a Latin term, meaning "naked name", used in taxonomy...
) - Solanum hermannii Dunal
- Solanum mccannii Santapau
- Solanum sodomeum L.
- Solanum sodomeum var. hermannii (Dunal) Dunal
- Solanum sodomeum var. mediterraneum Dunal
- Solanum undatum Bouton ex Dunal (preoccupied)
- Solanum undatum as described by Walsh is Solanum lycocarpum.
- Solanum undatum var. violaceum, described by Dunal in de CandolleA. P. de CandolleAugustin Pyramus de Candolle also spelled Augustin Pyrame de Candolle was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at an herbarium...
, is the original Solanum aethiopicumSolanum aethiopicumEthiopian Eggplant , nakati or Solanum aethiopicum is a fruiting plant of the genus Solanum mainly found in Asia and Tropical Africa. It is also known as Mock Tomato, Garden Eggs and Ethiopian Nightshade...
of Linnaeus.
It is not clear whether the plant described by Drège
Johann Franz Drège
Johann Franz Drège or or , commonly referred to by his standard botanical author abbreviation Drège, was a German horticulturalist, botanical collector and explorer of Huguenot descent.Drège received his first training in horticulture at...
as Solanum sodomeum was of this species. Solanum sodomeum by Russ based on Nees von Esenbeck
Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck
Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck was a prolific German botanist, physician, zoologist, and natural philosopher. He was a contemporary of Goethe and was born within the lifetime of Linnaeus. He described approximately 7,000 plant species...
is another nomen nudum.