Solanum catombelense

Peyr.

SolanaceaeFruitLeavesShootsPotential hazards — see below

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(c) Troos van der Merwe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Troos van der Merwe

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(c) ramoroka, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Leaves, Stem, Fruit

The stems, leaves, and fruit are eaten.

Known Hazards

The sap of fresh unripe fruits is applied as arrow poison. Although providing many well-known foods for people, including the potato, tomato, pepper and aubergine, most species in this genus also contain toxic alkaloids. Whilst these alkaloids can make the plant useful in treaing a range of medical conditions, they can also cause problems such as nausea, vomiting, salivation, drowsiness, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, weakness and respiratory depression. Unless there are specific entries with information on edible uses, it would be unwise to ingest any part of this plant.

Where to Find It

It is a subtropical plant. It grows in hot arid places with a marked dry season. It grows between 190-1,400 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.

Africa, Angola, Botswana, East Africa, Eswatini, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe,

Countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Comoros, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A small shrub. The stems and flowers are spiny. It can grow up to 1 m high. It keeps growing from year to year. The leaves are alternate and have deep lobes. They are densely covered with star shaped hairs. The flowers are white or violet and have 5 stamens. The fruit are small orange-red berries.

How to Grow

A plant of subtropical to tropical areas, where it is found at elevations up to 1,300 metres. Found on sandy or limestone soils in the wild.

Propagation: Seed - sow in trays in a nursery. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on fast. Plant them out when 10cm or more tall. Cuttings of half-ripe wood. Very easy, the cuttings root within a couple of weeks.

Medicinal Uses

A tea made of the roots is drunk or the roots are chewed to treat gastro-intestinal disorders. A mixture of the root in water is put in the eye to treat eye inflammations.

Names & Synonyms

Manchu

Solanum rautanenii SchinzSolanum sparsiflorum Dammer

References (9)

Ferns, Useful Tropical Plants
Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 347
http://aflora.africa.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 186
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 11th June 2011]
Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 103
Tanaka, 1980,
Welcome, A. K. & Van Wyk, B.-E., 2019, An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 122 (2019) 136–179
World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew