''Solanum pyracanthos'', also known as the porcupine tomato, is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

shrub native to tropical

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. It belongs to the genus ''

Solanum ''Solanum'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include three food crops of high economic importance: the potato, the tomato and the eggplant (aubergine, brinjal). It is the largest genus in the nightshade family Solana ...

'', a diverse and cosmopolitan genus with over 1,500 species including the

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

and nightshades. The plant contains toxic

tropane Tropane is a nitrogenous bicyclic organic compound. It is mainly known for the other alkaloids derived from it, which include atropine and cocaine, among others. Tropane alkaloids occur in plants of the families Erythroxylaceae (including coca) ...

alkaloids Alkaloids are a broad class of naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large variety of organisms i ...

in its leaves, stem and fruit and therefore should be considered dangerous to humans.

Description

''S. pyracanthos'' is perhaps most distinguished by a profusion of strong, straight fluorescent orange thorns which occupy the stems and leaves of the plant, giving it a forbidding appearance. The prickles are consistent throughout the plant, developing clearly from furry

trichome Trichomes (; ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a plant ...

s that coat the plant's leaves and stems. Sources give the normal height of the shrub at , although ornamental growers have reported taller growth.
''Solanum pyracanthos'', Rob's Plants The plant is not cold resistant, and will die if exposed to temperatures below freezing for more than a week, although plants that die back during the winter may regrow in extended periods of warm weather. The

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and ...

ly lobed leaves are 6–21 cm long and the plant blooms year round with clusters of small, star-shaped violet inflorescences, followed by marble-sized greenish-yellow fruit.
''Solanum pyracanthos'', Taxon Concept, Natural History Museum, UK.

Taxonomy

''Solanum pyracanthos'' is found in scientific literature as ''S. pyracanthum'', ''S. runcinatum'', ''S. pyracantha'' and ''S. haematocarpum''.

Cultivation

''Solanum pyracanthos'' is grown ornamentally throughout the world. It requires moderate water and sun, a warm climate, and mildly acidic to mildly alkaline soil. The plant is a copious producer of seeds, and should therefore be handled carefully, as new saplings are aggressive growers and immediately produce their large thorns. File:Solanum pyracanthos, Phipps Conservatory, 2015-10-01, 01.jpg File:Solanum pyracanthon fruit.jpg

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2162537 Solanum, pyracanthos Endemic flora of Madagascar Garden plants of Africa