Solanum muricatum - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This page is about the Solanum muricatum described by William Aiton

William Aiton

William Aiton was a Scottish botanist.Aiton was born near Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Philip Miller, then superintendent of the Chelsea Physic Garden...

. S. furcatum

Solanum furcatum

Solanum furcatum is a species of nightshade known by the common name forked nightshade. It is native to South America. It is known elsewhere as an introduced species. The berries are toxic and can be fatal to humans if ingested.-External links:*...

was also called thus by Bertero based on Dunal.

"Pepino" redirects here; similar plants are also known by that name (see text). For the municipality in Toledo, see Pepino, Spain.

Solanum muricatum is a 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...

of evergreen

Evergreen

In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...

shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

native to South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

and grown for its sweet edible fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

.

It is known as pepino dulce ("sweet pepino") or simply pepino; the latter is also used for similar species such as "S. mucronatum

Solanum mucronatum

"Solanum mucronatum" is a flowering plant species in the nightshade family...

" (which actually seems to belong in the related genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

Lycianthes

Lycianthes is a genus of plants from the nightshade family , found in both the Old World and the New World, but predominantly in the latter. It contains roughly 200 species, mostly from tropical America, with 35-40 species in Asia and the Pacific.-Characteristics:Lycianthes is apparently closely...

). The pepino dulce fruit resembles a melon

Melon

thumb|200px|Various types of melonsThis list of melons includes members of the plant family Cucurbitaceae with edible, fleshy fruit e.g. gourds or cucurbits. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit...

(Cucumis melo) in color, and its flavor recalls a succulent mixture of honeydew

Honeydew (melon)

Honeydew is a cultivar group of the muskmelon, Cucumis melo Inodorus group, which includes crenshaw, casaba, Persian, winter, and other mixed melons.-Characteristics:...

and cucumber

Cucumber

The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...

, and thus it is also sometimes called pepino melon or melon pear, but pepinos are only very distantly related to melons and pears. Another common name, "tree melon", is more often used for the Papaya

Papaya

The papaya , papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae...

(Carica papaya) and the pepino dulce plant does generally not look much like a tree. The present species is, however, a close relative of other nightshades cultivated for their fruit, including 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...

(S. lycopersicum) and the eggplant (S. melongena), which its own fruit closely resembles.

The fruit is common in markets in Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

, Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

, Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

and Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, but less often overseas because it is quite sensitive to handling and does not travel well. Attempts to produce commercial cultivar

Cultivar

A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...

s and to export the fruit have been made in 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...

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

and Chile

Chile

Distribution and habitat

The pepino dulce is presumed to be native to the temperate Andean regions of Colombia

Colombia

, Peru

Peru

and Chile

Chile

, though it is not known in the wild and the details of its domestication are unknown.The pepino is a domesticated native of the Andes.

Cultivation

Pepinos are not often found archaeologically as they are soft and pulpy and not easy to preserve, while their tough seeds are small and easily lost among debris. But they were already described by early Spanish chroniclers as being cultivated on the coast; the Moche

Moche

'The Moche civilization flourished in northern Peru from about 100 AD to 800 AD, during the Regional Development Epoch. While this issue is the subject of some debate, many scholars contend that the Moche were not politically organized as a monolithic empire or state...

Valley in Peru was particularly famous for them. They were a popular decorative motif in Moche art.

In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

the fruit is known to have been grown in San Diego before 1889 and in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...

by 1897. More commercially viable cultivars were introduced from New Zealand and elsewhere towards the end of the 20th century, leading to its introduction into up-scale markets in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

and North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

.

The pepino dulce is relatively hardy. In its native range it grows at altitudes ranging from close to sea level up to 3,000 m (10,000 ft.). However, it performs best in a warm, relatively frost-free climate. The plant can survive a low temperature of -2.5°C (27 to 28°F) if the freeze is not prolonged, though it may drop many of its leaves. The species is a perennial, but its sensitivity to chilling, pests, and diseases force the growers to replant the crop every year. The crop also adapts well to greenhouse cultivation, training the plants up to 2 m tall, and obtaining yields that are 2-3 times larger than those obtained outdoors.

They are propagated by cuttings since they are established easily without rooting hormones. It is grown in a manner similar to its relatives such as the tomato

Tomato

, though it grows naturally upright by habit and can thus be cultivated as a free-standing bush, though it is sometimes pruned on trellises. Additionally, supports are sometimes used to keep the weight of the fruit from pulling the plant down. It has a fast growth rate and bears fruit within 4 to 6 months after planting. It is a perennial, but is usually cultivated as an annual. Seedlings are intolerant of weeds, but it can later easily compete with low growing weeds. Like their relatives tomatoes, eggplants, tomatillos and tamarillos, pepinos are extremely attractive to beetles, aphids, white flies and spider mites. Pepinos are tolerant of most soil types, but require constant moisture for good fruit production. Established bushes show some tolerance to drought stress, but this typically affects yield. The plants are parthenocarpic, meaning it needs no pollination to set fruit, though pollination will encourage fruiting.

The plant is grown primarily in Chile

Chile

, New Zealand

New Zealand

and Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

. In Chile, more than 400 hectares are planted in the Longotoma Valley with an increasing proportion of the harvest being exported. Colombia

Colombia

, Peru

Peru

, and Ecuador

Ecuador

also grow the plant, but on a more local scale. Outside of the Andean region, it been grown in various countries of Central America, Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, and the highlands of Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

. In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

several hundred hectares of the fruit are grown on a small scale in 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...

and California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. More commercially viable cultivars have been introduced from New Zealand and elsewhere in more recent times. As a result, the fruit has been introduced into up-scale markets in Japan, Europe and North America and it is slowly becoming less obscure outside of South America. Delicate and mild-flavored, pepinos are often eaten as a fresh snack fruit, though they combine very well with a number of other fruits as well.

The study of the molecular variation of this pepino is of interest for several reasons. Although the seeds of pepino plants are fertile and produce vigorous offspring, this crop is primarily propagated by cuttings (Heiser, 1964; Anderson, 1979; Morley-Bunker, 1983), and as a consequence, its genetic structure could be different from that of seed-propagated crops.

Synonyms

S. muricatum is known by some now-invalid synonym

Synonym

Synonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...

s. Most of these names have only been applied to this characteristic plant, but one is quite ambiguous:

Solanum guatemalense Hort.
Solanum hebephorum Dunal
Solanum longifolium Sessé & Moc. (non Dunal: preoccupied)

The S. longifolium of Dunal refers to S. subinerme, while S. longifolium of Pavón Jiménez

José Antonio Pavón Jiménez

José Antonio Pavón Jiménez or José Antonio Pavón was a Spanish botanist known for researching the flora of Peru and Chile during an expedition under Carlos III from 1777 to 1788...

based on Dunal in de Candolle is S. ensifolium.

Solanum melaniferum Moric. ex Dunal
Solanum pedunculatum Roem. & Schult.
Solanum saccianum Naudin (non Carrière & André: preoccupied)
Solanum saccianum Carrière & André
Solanum scabrum Lam. (non Mill.: preoccupied)

The S. scabrum of Kunth and of Zuccagni are actually S. aethiopicum

Solanum aethiopicum

Ethiopian 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...

. The one described by Vahl is S. volubile as described by Swartz

Olof Swartz

Olof Peter Swartz was a Swedish botanist and taxonomist. He is best known for his taxonomic work and studies into pteridophytes...

. And the S. scabrum of Ruiz & Pavón Jiménez is actually S. saponaceum of Dunal.

Solanum variegatum Ruiz & Pav.
Solanum wallisii Carrière

In addition, several presumed varieties and form

Form (botany)

In botanical nomenclature, a form is one of the "secondary" taxonomic ranks, below that of variety, which in turn is below that of species; it is an infraspecific taxon...

s of pepino dulce were described, but these are mainly individual or agricultural variants not considered taxonomically distinct today:

Solanum muricatum var. dissectum Dunal

Not to be confused with S. dissectum as described by Symon.

Solanum muricatum f. glaberrimum Correll

Not to be confused with S. glaberrimum as described by C.V. Morton.

Solanum muricatum var. papillosistylum Bitter
Solanum muricatum var. parvifolium Kunth

Not to be confused with S. parvifolium as described by Robert Brown

Robert Brown (botanist)

Robert Brown was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope...

Solanum muricatum var. popayanum Bitter
Solanum muricatum var. praecedens Bitter
Solanum muricatum var. protogenum Bitter
Solanum muricatum var. teleutogenum Bitter

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.