''Solanum retroflexum'', commonly known as (

isiZulu Zulu ( ), or isiZulu as an endonym, is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch spoken in, and indigenous to, Southern Africa. Nguni dialects are regional or social varieties of the Nguni language, distinguished by vocabulary, pronunciatio ...

), wonderberry or sunberry, is a historic

heirloom In popular usage, an heirloom is something that has been passed down for generations through family members. Examples are a family bible, antiques, weapons or jewellery. The term originated with the historical principle of an heirloom in ...

fruiting shrub. Both common names are also used for the European black nightshade (''

Solanum nigrum ''Solanum nigrum'', the European black nightshade or simply black nightshade or blackberry nightshade, is a species of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae, native to Eurasia and introduced in the Americas, Australasia, and South Africa. Ripe ...

'') 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 ''Solanum scabrum'', also known as garden huckleberry, is an annual or perennial plant in the nightshade family. The geographic origin of the species is uncertain; Linnaeus attributed it to Africa, but it also occurs in North America, and it is n ...

'' described by

Philip Miller Philip Miller Royal Society, FRS (1691 – 18 December 1771) was an English botany, botanist and gardener of Scottish descent. Miller was chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden for nearly 50 years from 1722, and wrote the highly popular ...

. 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

Plants are compact, typically growing to a height of , and may fruit at sizes as small as . The plant produces diminutive, dark blue-purple edible fruits. Green (unripe) fruits may be poisonous.

Taxonomy

Its old scientific name that is still often seen, ''Solanum × burbankii'', indicates a plant of

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

origin. It was supposedly bred by

Luther Burbank Luther Burbank (March 7, 1849 – April 11, 1926) was an American botanist, horticulturist, and pioneer in agricultural science who developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants over his 55-year career. Burbank primarily worked with ...

in the early 1900s as a hybrid of '' S. villosum'' and '' S. guineense'' but in fact ''S. retroflexum'' is a proper species of its own, while the supposed hybrid combination would not be viable due to different

ploidy Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...

of ''S. guineense'' and ''S. villosum''.

Phylogeny

Phylogenetic research suggests ''S. retroflexum'' closest living relatives to be

garden huckleberry ''Solanum scabrum'', also known as garden huckleberry, is an annual or perennial plant in the nightshade family. The geographic origin of the species is uncertain; Linnaeus attributed it to Africa, but it also occurs in North America, and it is n ...

(''S. scabrum''), golden pearls (''S. villosum''), and '' S. annuum'' in order of recency of deviation. The following phylogenetic tree is suggested:

Cultivation

The wonderberry shrub is an easy-to-grow plant which is grown similarly to

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 ...

es. Seeds are sown in the summer in full or part sun. Fruit can be expected in 75 days.

References

retroflexum Edible Solanaceae Berries {{Solanales-stub