Solanum sisymbriifolium
Solanum sisymbriifolium is commonly known as vila-vila, sticky nightshade, red buffalo-bur, the fire-and-ice plant, litchi tomato, or Morelle de Balbis.
The small edible fruits are red on the outside and yellow inside. It grows inside a spiny, green husk. The fruit is ripe when it is easily removed from the stem. The flavor resembles sour cherries and a little bit like a tomato.
This plant has been used as a trap crop to protect potatoes from potato cyst nematode. The stems and leaves contain solasodine which makes the plant very resistant to many pests and diseases, with the exception of potato beetles and tomato hornworms. It can also be used as a hedge plant to keep animals out of a garden, because it is covered with prickles.
Synonyms
[Image:Solanum sisymbriifolium01.JPG|thumb|Closeup of flowers][Image:Solanum sisymbriifolium fruit.jpg|thumb|Immature fruit hidden in a spiny husk]
The sticky nightshade has been described under a number of illegitimate scientific names, many of them quite ambiguous homonyms:Solanum balbisii DunalSolanum bipinnatifidum LarrañagaSolanum brancaefolium Jacq.Solanum decurrens Balb.Solanum edule Vell.Solanum formosum Weinm.Solanum inflatum Hornem.Solanum mauritianum Willd. ex Roth Solanum opuliflorum Port. ex Walp. Solanum opuliflorum Port. ex Dunal Solanum rogersii S.MooreSolanum sabeanum BuckleySolanum subviscidum SchrankSolanum thouinii C.C.Gmel.Solanum viscidum Schweigg.Solanum viscosum Lag.Solanum xanthacanthum Willd. ex Walp.
Several forms and varieties have been named, but these are generally not considered distinct today:Solanum sisymbriifolium var. purpureiflorum DunalSolanum sisymbriifolium forma albiflorum KuntzeSolanum sisymbriifolium var. bipinnatipartitum DunalSolanum sisymbriifolium var. brevilobum DunalSolanum sisymbriifolium var. gracile MattosSolanum sisymbriifolium var. heracleifolium Sendtn.Solanum sisymbriifolium forma lilacinum KuntzeSolanum sisymbriifolium var. macrocarpum KuntzeSolanum sisymbriifolium var. oligospermum Dunal
Distribution
Native
South America
- Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru
- Brazil
- *Rio Grande do Sul
Introduced
Europe
- Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom
- Italy
- *Sicily - invasive
Asia
Africa
- Benin, Kenya, South Africa, Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Namibia
North America
- Canada
- Mexico
- United States - ~64% of the country is suitable for S. sisymbriifolium. Predicted to eventually be absent from most of Alaska, Montana, and Wisconsin, and to never enter North Dakota.
- *Alabama, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas
- *ABSENT from Idaho
Oceania
- Australia
- *New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia
- New Zealand