''Solanum aculeastrum'' is commonly known as soda apple, sodaapple nightshade, goat apple, poison apple, or more ambiguously as "

bitter-apple ''Citrullus colocynthis'', with many common names including Abu Jahl's melon, (native name in Turkey) colocynth, bitter apple, bitter cucumber, egusi, vine of Sodom, or wild gourd, is a poisonous desert viny plant native to the Mediterranean ...

". It is a

poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

ous

nightshade Solanaceae (), commonly known as the nightshades, is a family of flowering plants in the order Solanales. It contains approximately 2,700 species, several of which are used as agricultural crops, medicinal plants, and ornamental plants. Many me ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and only distantly related to true

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

s. The term "soda apple" probably derives from " Sodom apple", modified due to the fruit's

detergent A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with Cleanliness, cleansing properties when in Concentration, dilute Solution (chemistry), solutions. There are a large variety of detergents. A common family is the alkylbenzene sulfonate ...

properties.

Description

It is a

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

or small

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

native to tropical

East to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, in a wide range of soil, terrain, and climatic conditions. It is highly branched and reaches 1–5 m high, with numerous sharp, hooked, brown thorns. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are ovate, up to 15 cm long and 13 cm broad, with lobed margins and downy undersides. It

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s (in South Africa) from September to July, peaking from November to March. The petals are white to pale violet surrounding the ovary, the flower also has a bitter, sour smell. These yield to

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

from April to January, peaking in June and November. These smooth, round

berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone fruit, stone or pit (fruit), pit although many wikt:pip#Etymology 2, pips or seeds may be p ...

are 6 cm in diameter and fade from green to yellow as they ripen. These berries contain high levels of the poisonous alkaloid

solanine Solanine is a glycoalkaloid poison found in species of the Solanaceae, nightshade family within the genus ''Solanum'', such as the potato (''Solanum tuberosum''). It can occur naturally in any part of the plant, including the Leaf, leaves, frui ...

. The species name ''aculeastrum'' refers to the thorns that adorn most parts of the shrub.

Uses

Because of its dense growth and prickly nature, soda apple is used as a

hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced (3 feet or closer) shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate ...

and living barrier for containing

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

. It is often used as a

soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

replacement, as it is high in

saponin Saponins (Latin ''sapon'', 'soap' + ''-in'', 'one of') are bitter-tasting, usually toxic plant-derived secondary metabolites. They are organic chemicals that become foamy when agitated in water and have high molecular weight. They are present ...

. Traditional Zulu practices use the fruit - fresh, boiled, or charred - in

herbal medicine Herbal medicine (also called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments ...

to treat a wide variety of afflictions, including cancer, toothaches, and ringworm. The Taita tribe of southern Kenya use the ripe yellow fruit to treat paronychia. The roots are chewed and, the sap ingested to alleviate stomach aches

Synonyms

The soda apple has been described under a range of

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

s, now invalid. Several of these are ambiguous

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are either; '' homographs''—words that mean different things, but have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation), or '' homophones''—words that mean different things, but have the same pronunciat ...

s:Solanaceae Source

008 008, OO8, O08, or 0O8 may refer to: * "008", a fictional 00 Agent In Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and the derived films, the 00 Section of MI6 is considered the secret service's elite. A 00 (pronounced "Double O") is a field agent who ho ...

br>''Solanum aculeastrum''
Retrieved 2008-SEP-25. * ''Solanum albifolium'' C.H.Wright * ''Solanum conraui'' Dammer * ''Solanum dregei'' C.Presl :The ''S. dregei'' described by Dunal in

de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss people, Swiss botany, botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple ...

is now '' S. capense''. * ''Solanum horridissimum'' Hort. Par. ex Sendtn. (''

nomen nudum In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published ...

'') * ''Solanum protodasypogon'' Bitter * ''Solanum rugulosum'' De Wild. * ''Solanum saponaceum'' Welw. (''non'' Dunal:

preoccupied In biology, a homonym is a name for a taxon that is identical in spelling to another such name, that belongs to a different taxon. The rule in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is that the first such name to be published is the s ...

) :The ''Solanum saponaceum'' described by W.J. Hooker is the '' S. elaeagnifolium'' of Cavanilles. :''Solanum saponaceum'' var. ''uruguense'', described by Grisebach, is now '' S. bonariense''. * ''Solanum sepiaceum'' Dammer * ''Solanum subhastatum'' De Wild. :''Solanum subhastatum'' as described by L.B. Smith and Downs is now '' S. cylindricum''. :''Solanum spectabile'' var. ''subhastatum'' as described by

Otto Sendtner Otto Sendtner (27 June 1813 – 21 April 1859) was a German botanist and phytogeographer born in Munich. He received his education at the University of Munich, where he was a student of Karl Friedrich Schimper (1803–1867). Afterwards he serv ...

von Martius Carl Friedrich Philipp (Karl Friedrich Philipp) von Martius (17 April 1794 – 13 December 1868) was a German botanist and explorer. Between 1817 and 1820, he travelled 10,000 km through Brazil while collecting botanical specimens. His most impo ...

is the '' S. affine'' of Sendtner. * ''Solanum thomsonii'' C.H.Wright The

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Bitter distinguished a number of

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

and

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

of the soda apple, but these are not considered valid

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

anymore: * ''Solanum aculeastrum'' ssp. ''pachychlamys'' Bitter * ''S. a.'' ssp. ''sepiaceum'' (Dammer) Bitter * ''S. a.'' var. ''albifolium'' (C.H.Wright) Bitter * ''S. a.'' var. ''conraui'' (Dammer) Bitter * ''S. a.'' var. ''exarmatum'' Bitter * ''S. a.'' var. ''parceaculeastrum'' Bitter

Description

Uses

Synonyms

References

Further reading