Common Name:

General Information

Solanum barbeyanum is a prickly, robust, perennial climbing plant with stems up to 10mm in diameter[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and a medicine.

Known Hazards

Although providing many well-known foods for people, including the potato, tomato, pepper and aubergine, most species in this genus also contain toxic alkaloids. Whilst these alkaloids can make the plant useful in treaing a range of medical conditions, they can also cause problems such as nausea, vomiting, salivation, drowsiness, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, weakness and respiratory depression[].
Unless there are specific entries with information on edible uses, it would be unwise to ingest any part of this plant[].

Botanical References

Range

S. America - Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, northern Brazil

Habitat

Clearings, shaded thickets, riparian forests, and disturbed areas in premontane to montane forests; at elevations from 200 - 2,000 metres[].

Properties

Habit	Climber
Height	0.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

Fruit[]. The usually globose, rarely obovoid (pyriform), bright orange fruits are around 20 - 60mm x 30 - 70mm[].

Medicinal

The fruit is used to treat scabies[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - sow in trays in a nursery. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on fast. Plant them out when 10cm or more tall.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood. Very easy, the cuttings root within a couple of weeks.

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