Solanum triflorum
Nutt.
Three-flowered Nightshade, Cutleaf nightshade
(c) Bas Kers (NL), some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
(c) Sarah Vinge-Mazer, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Sarah Vinge-Mazer
(c) Dominic Gentilcore, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Dominic Gentilcore
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit (Caution)
The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked and has been used during times of food shortage. It can be eaten as a fruit or vegetable, or dried, ground into a powder, and combined with cereals to make bread. Ripe fruit can also be boiled, mashed, and mixed with ground chilli and salt to serve as a condiment with mush or bread.
Known Hazards
Where to Find It
It grows in temperate places. In Argentina it grows from sea level to 2,500 m above sea level. Tasmania Herbarium.
Argentina, Australia, Canada, North America, South America*, Tasmania, USA,
How to Identify
An annual plant. It is low and spreading. It forms mats. The leaves are alternate and simple. They are deeply lobed. They are 2.5-8 cm long. The flowers is white and 5-10 mm across. They are borne in clusters of 3. The fruit is a small, round, green berry.
How to Grow
Succeeds in most soils in a sunny position. This species is said to be a good companion for watermelons, it has been planted with them in order to make the watermelons more prolific and ripen earlier. An infusion of the plant has been sprayed on the watermelons in order to make them more prolific and ripen earlier.
Propagation: Sow seed in spring in a greenhouse. Prick seedlings out into individual pots when large enough to handle, and plant out after the last expected frosts.
Medicinal Uses
A decoction of the berries has been used to treat stomach aches and diarrhoea in children.
Other Uses
No known other uses.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Solanum triflorum is a species of nightshade, in the family Solanaceae, also known as cutleaf nightshade and small nightshade. Like many nightshades, S. triflorum is native to South America, specifically to Argentina; it has made its way onto other continents, including Europe and Australia, as an introduced species, where it is deemed a weed, at times. It is also typically considered native to much of the Eastern and Western parts of the United states and parts of Canada, although there is some debate on the matter.
Other Information
It is a famine food.
Notes
There are about 1400 Solanum species.
References (12)
- Beckstrom-Sternberg, Stephen M., and James A. Duke. "The Foodplant Database." http://probe.nalusda.gov:8300/cgi-bin/browse/foodplantdb.(ACEDB version 4.0 - data version July 1994)
- Cormack, R. G. H., 1967, Wild Flowers of Alberta. Commercial Printers Edmonton, Canada. p 295
- Etkin, N.L. (Ed.), 1994, Eating on the Wild Side, Univ. of Arizona. p 71
- Gen. N. Amer. pl. 1:128. 1818
- Hussey, B.M.J., Keighery, G.J., Cousens, R.D., Dodd, J., Lloyd, S.G., 1997, Western Weeds. A guide to the weeds of Western Australia. Plant Protection Society of Western Australia. p 222
- Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 825
- Lazarides, M. & Hince, B., 1993, Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia, CSIRO. p 224
- Moerman, D. F., 2010, Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press. p 535
- Paczkowska, G . & Chapman, A.R., 2000, The Western Australian Flora. A Descriptive Calatogue. Western Australian Herbarium. p 538
- Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
- Smith, P.M., 1979, Solanums, in Simmonds, N.W., (ed), Crop Plant Evolution. Longmans. London. p 322
- Tasmanian Herbarium Vascular Plants list p 56
