''Lycianthes rantonnetii'', the blue potato bush or Paraguay nightshade, is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the nightshade family

Solanaceae 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 ...

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to South America. Growing to about tall and broad, it is a rounded

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 with a somewhat lax habit. A profusion of trumpet-shaped, bright blue-purple flowers with a prominent yellow eye appear in summer, followed by red berries. It is widely cultivated and may be

hardy Hardy may refer to: People * Hardy (surname) * Hardy (given name) * Hardy (singer), American singer-songwriter Places Antarctica * Mount Hardy, Enderby Land * Hardy Cove, Greenwich Island * Hardy Rocks, Biscoe Islands Australia * Hardy, ...

in mild or coastal areas. Alternatively it can be grown in a container and brought under cover in winter. It requires a sheltered location in full sun. Though related to food plants like the

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

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 ...

, all parts of the plant are considered toxic to humans. It has been given the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

. The species is named for

Barthélémy Victor Rantonnet Barthélémy Victor Rantonnet (1797-1871), gardener, horticulturalist and French nurseryman, a pioneer in the acclimatisation of plants on Côte d'Azur, and worked in the garden that Jean-Baptiste Fihle de Sainte-Anne had created in Hyères Hyè ...

, a 19th-century French horticulturalist. ''Lycianthes rantonnetii'' has previously been placed in ''

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 huge

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

which has recently been the subject of major investigation, with species being transferred to and from several different genera. There are many rare and little-known species whose true placement has yet to be determined. (MHNT) Lycianthes rantonnetii royal robe - Les Martels, Giroussens Tarn.jpg, ''Lycianthes rantonnetii'' 'royal robe' Blue_potato_bush_flowers.jpg Solanum Lycianthes Rantonnetii (blue potato bush).jpg

References

Flora of Argentina Flora of Bolivia Flora of Brazil Flora of Paraguay rantonnetii Plants described in 1859 Taxa named by Élie-Abel Carrière {{Solanales-stub