Solanum aviculare
Solanum aviculare
Safety & Hazards
All green parts of the plant are poisonous[ 154 Title Flora of Victoria. Publication Author Ewart. A. J. Publisher University Press; Melbourne Year 1930 ISBN Description A flora of eastern Australia, it is rather short on information that is useful to the plant project. ] and so is the unripe fruit[ 173 Title Native Edible Plants of New Zealand. Publication Author Crowe. A. Publisher Hodder and Stoughton Year 1990 ISBN 0-340-508302 Description A very well written and illustrated book based on the authors own experiments with living on a native diet. ]. All Solanum species contain greater or lesser quantities of spirosolane alkaloids, including solanine and solanidine. These are bitter tasting and potentially poisonous when consumed frequently[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].
Botanical Description
Solanum aviculare is an evergreen shrub that can grow from 1 - 4 metres tall. A short-lived tree, with soft-wooded trunk and branches persisting for several years, becoming woody at the base and straggly with age[ 435 Title Solanaceae Source Publication Author Website http://solanaceaesource.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Incredible detail on all the species in Solanum (now also including the Tomatoes which were formerly in Lycopersicon). The site will eventually include all other Genera within the Solanaceae. ]. The edible fruit is gathered from the wild for local use and is also used in cosmetic preparations. A very ornamental plant[ 1 Title RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Publication Author F. Chittendon. Publisher Oxford University Press Year 1951 ISBN - Description Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]). ], it has been cultivated for its edible fruit by the New Zealand Maoris[ 153 Title Economic Native Plants of New Zealand. Publication Author Brooker. S. G., Cambie. R. C. and Cooper. R. C. Publisher Oxford University Press Year 1991 ISBN 0-19-558229-2 Description An interesting and readable book on the useful plants of New Zealand. ].