''Solanum mammosum'', commonly known as nipplefruit, fox head, cow's udder, or apple of Sodom, is an inedible Pan-American tropical fruit. The plant is grown for ornamental purposes, in part because of the

distal Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position provi ...

end of the fruit's resemblance to a human

breast The breasts are two prominences located on the upper ventral region of the torso among humans and other primates. Both sexes develop breasts from the same embryology, embryological tissues. The relative size and development of the breasts is ...

, while the

proximal Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

end looks like a cow's

udder An udder is an organ formed of two or four mammary glands on the females of dairy animals and ruminants such as cattle, goats, and sheep. An udder is equivalent to the breast in primates, elephantine pachyderms and other mammals. The udder is ...

. It is an annual in the 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 ...

, and part of 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 ...

'', making the plant a relative of the

eggplant Eggplant (American English, US, Canadian English, CA, Australian English, AU, Philippine English, PH), aubergine (British English, UK, Hiberno English, IE, New Zealand English, NZ), brinjal (Indian English, IN, Singapore English, SG, Malays ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. This poisonous fruit is native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, but has been

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

in Southern Mexico,

Greater Antilles The Greater Antilles is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica, together with Navassa Island and the Cayman Islands. Seven island states share the region of the Greater Antille ...

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, and the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. The plant adapts well to most soils, but thrives in moist, loamy soil. Solanum mammosum1

The plant has thin

simple 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, fl ...

occurring in alternating branching patterns with prominent

venation Venation may refer to: * Venation (botany), the arrangement of veins in leaves * Wing venation, the arrangement of veins in insect wings See also * * Vernation Vernation or leafing is the formation of new leaves or fronds. In plant anatomy, it ...

. Hairy thorns cover the stem and branches of the plant. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

contains five to eight purple elongating buds. The fruit is a

berry 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 or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...

type, and has waxy yellow skin with reddish-brown seeds. The plant is propagated by the distribution of seeds.

Uses

Solanum mammosum at Lunar New Year Fair HK 2015

Folkloric uses of the plant range from treating

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

with a root

decoction Decoction is a method of extraction by boiling herbal or plant material (which may include stems, roots, bark and rhizomes) to dissolve the chemicals of the material. It is the most common preparation method in various herbal medicine systems. D ...

, to curing

athlete's foot Athlete's foot, known medically as ''tinea pedis'', is a common skin infection of the feet caused by a fungus. Signs and symptoms often include itching, scaling, cracking and redness. In rare cases the skin may blister. Athlete's foot fungus ...

by rubbing leaf juices on the skin. Although these medical uses are not widely practiced and vary between cultures, they explain why the plant has been cultivated. The fruit has been embraced by Eastern cultures. It is primarily used as decorative foliage for religious and festival floral arrangements in Asia. The fruit is imported for the creation of Chinese

New Year tree New Year's trees are decorated trees similar to Christmas trees that are displayed to specifically celebrate the New Year. They should not be confused with the practice of leaving up a Christmas tree until after New Year's Day (traditionally unt ...

s, due to their golden colored fruit and the belief that the five "fingers" on the fruit represent longevity for the family. In Chinese culture, the plant is known as ''five-fingered eggplant'' (五指茄) and in Japan it is known as ''horned eggplant'' (ツノナス), ''fox eggplant'' (キツネナス), or ''foxface'' (フォックスフェイス). The juice of the fruit can be used as a

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 ...

in place of a washing powder, making it similar to the soap nut. The Kofan People of

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

use the plant as an insect repellent, primarily against cockroaches. The fruit works as a repellent because of the toxicity of steroidal

glycoalkaloid Glycoalkaloids are a family of chemical compounds derived from alkaloids to which sugar groups are appended. Several are potentially toxic, most notably the poisons commonly found in the plant species '' Solanum dulcamara'' (bittersweet nightshad ...

. Although the mature fruit is poisonous, it can be cooked and eaten like a vegetable when it is unripe. It provides a good source of calcium, phosphorus, iron and vitamin B. One way that the fruit can be prepared is boiling the whole fruit and drinking the juices once boiled. In the Philippines, not only is the fruit eaten, but the leaves are also prepared as a tea considered to be

anodyne An anodyne is a drug used to lessen pain through reducing the sensitivity of the brain or nervous system. The term was common in medicine before the 20th century, but such drugs are now more often known as analgesics or painkillers. The term ' ...

, a mild narcotic.

Synonyms

This plant is not easily confused, but several now-invalid

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

s have been given to it:Solanaceae Source (2006)
''Solanum mammosum''
Version of 2006. Retrieved 2008-SEP-26. * ''Solanum corniculatum'' E.André (''non'' Huber: preoccupiedThe identity of Huber's ''S. corniculatum'' is unclear, but his description precedes that of André: Solanaceae Source (2006)) :''S. corniculatum'' of Hiern refers to an unidentifiable species of ''

Lycianthes ''Lycianthes'' is a genus of plants from the nightshade family (Solanaceae), found in both the Old World and the New World, but predominantly in the latter. It contains over 150 species, mostly from tropical America, with 35-40 species in Asia an ...

''. *

''Solanum cornigerum'' E.André :''S. cornigerum'' of Dunal in de Candolle is now '' S. viscosissimum''. * ''Solanum globiferum'' Dunal * ''Solanum mammosum var. corniculum'' Ridl. * ''Solanum mamosissimum'' Ram.Goyena * ''Solanum platanifolium'' Sims :''S. platanifolium'' var. ''lagoense'' is the '' Solanum affine'' of

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 ...

. * ''Solanum villosissimum'' Zuccagni In addition, the name ''Solanum mammosum'' was also invalidly given to other nightshade species: * ''S. mammosum'' as described by J.A. Pavón Jiménez based on Dunal in de Candolle refers to '' S. circinatum''. * ''S. mammosum'' as described by W. Herbert based on Dunal in de Candolle is the '' S. torvum'' of O.P. Swartz.

Footnotes

References

*Botanical.com (1995): &ndash
Nightshade, Woody
Retrieved 2008-SEP-26. *Lans, Cheryl; Harper, Tisha; Georges, Karla & Bridgewater, Elmo (2001): Medicinal and ethnoveterinary remedies of hunters in Trinidad. '' BMC Complement. Altern. Med.'' 1: 10. PDF fulltext
*"A Morphological Study of Solanum mammosum and Its Mammiform Fruit," ''Botanical Gazette'' 130, no. 4 (Dec., 1969): 230-237. DOI: 10.1086/336496 *"Solanum mammosum (nipplefruit nightshade)" ''Invasive Species Compendium.'' http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/110316. 14 April 2015.

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1639604 mammosum Medicinal plants Flora of Southern America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus