Solanum retroflexum

Solanum retroflexum, commonly known as umsobo (isiZulu), wonderberry or sunberry, is a historic heirloom fruiting shrub. Both common names are also used for the European black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) in some places, particularly where the latter species has been introduced, so care must be taken to distinguish them. It is sometimes called garden huckleberry, but that properly refers to the species S. scabrum described by Philip Miller. The plant produces diminutive, dark blue-purple edible fruits that are bland in flavor and often combined with sugar in desserts. Green (unripe) fruits may be poisonous.

Description

A spreading annual herb. It grows 50-100 cm high. The stems are angled and grooved. The leaves simple and alternate and can have lobes or teeth. There are spreading hairs on the stems. The flowers are in small groups and are drooping. They are in the axils of leaves. The flowers are white, star shaped and 16 mm across. The fruit are green but turn black and 8 mm across. There are many seeds.

Edible Uses

The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked, though it is not very appetizing raw and the flavour improves with cooking. It is noticeably sweeter and more pleasant than the similar Solanum nigrum guineense, though still not among the most appealing fruits. The fruit is about 1cm in diameter and is produced in small bunches.

Traditional Uses

The ripe fruit are eaten and used for jam. They taste better cooked. Caution: The fruit are edible when ripe but poisonous when green. The leaves are cooked and eaten as a vegetable.

Medicinal Uses

None known

Known Hazards

Although no specific mention of toxicity has been seen for this species, it belongs to a genus where many if not all the members have poisonous leaves and sometimes also the unripe fruits.

Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows in hot arid places with a marked dry season. It grows between 10-2,730 m above sea level. It can grow in arid places.

Where It Grows

Africa, Angola, Arabia, Australia, Botswana, Central Africa, East Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Middle East, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, North America, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, USA, West Africa, Zimbabwe,

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seeds. Seeds have a low germination. They need light to germinate. Treated seeds with potassium nitrate (salt peter) germinate better.

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.

Other Uses

None known

Notes

There are about 1400 Solanum species.

Synonyms

Also Known As

Intfumana, Momodi, Msoba, Muxe, Nasgal, Nastergal, Seshoa-bohloko, Sobosobo berry, Umsoba, Umsobo omnyama

References (23)

• 1996, California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc. Pepino dulce Fruit fact (As Solanum burbankii)
• Burkill, H. M., 1985, The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vol. 5. Kew.
• A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 13(1):50. 1852
• De Vynk, J. C., et al, 2016, Indigenous edible plant use by contemporary Khoe-San descendants of South Africa's Cape South Coast. South African Journal of Botany. 102 (2016) 60-69
• Ferns, Useful Tropical Plants

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