Solanum macrocarpon L., Mant. Pl. Altera 205. 1771.

Aubriot, Xavier & Knapp, Sandra, 2022, A revision of the " spiny solanums " of Tropical Asia (Solanum, the Leptostemonum Clade, Solanaceae), PhytoKeys 198, pp. 1-270 : 1

24. Solanum macrocarpon L., Mant. Pl. Altera 205. 1771.

Fig. 22G, H

Solanum dimorphum Matsum., Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 15: 56. 1901. Type. Cultivated in Tokyo, Japan "cult. Hort. Bot. Tokyo" (possibly from material collected in Taiwan but origin uncertain) (no specimens cited; no original material found).

Type.

Cultivated in Uppsala, Sweden, Hort. Uppsala s.n. (lectotype, designated by Hepper and Jaeger 1985, pg. 391: LINN [acc. # 248.11]) .

Distribution.

Solanum macrocarpon is widely distributed across Africa and has been introduced in cultivation in other parts of the world possibly in association with the trans-Atlantic slave trade (e.g., Brazil, the Caribbean, Central America). In tropical Asia S. macrocarpon has been collected in Sri Lanka, Singapore, and China, but may be more widely cultivated (see below). Solanum macrocarpon is not known outside cultivation.

Common names.

Gboma eggplant is the English common name in widest use for this species; for common names in Africa see Vorontsova and Knapp (2016).

Description.

Vorontsova and Knapp (2016: 225-229); http://www.solanaceaesource.org/solanaceae/solanum-macrocarpon.

Discussion.

Solanum macrocarpon is a cultivated plant, used for its leaves and fruits in Africa ( Vorontsova and Knapp 2016); its wild progenitor is S. dasyphyllum Schumach. & Thonn. of sub-Saharan Africa. It is easily distinguished from other cultivated eggplants in tropical Asia by its large, glabrous or very sparsely pubescent leaves with attenuate bases decurrent onto the stem, its large flowers with copious interpetalar tissue, and its foliaceous calyx lobes.

We have seen only a few specimens of S. macrocarpon L, although Burkill (1935) reports its use in the Malay Peninsula as "spreading throughout the Dutch Indies" and used as a pot-herb (leaves eaten). Accessions of S. macrocarpon are held in the collections of the World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg or AVDRC) in the Philippines ( Taher et al. 2017) but it is not widely cultivated nor has it escaped or naturalised.

Specimens examined.

See Suppl. materials 1-3.

Figures

Figure 22. Introduced species of Solanum. Solanum chrysotrichum Schltdl. A detail of inflorescence (field photograph, unvouchered, India). Solanum elaeagnifolium Cav. B habit (Sampath Kumar et al. 126972, India) C detail view of a flower (Sampath Kumar et al. 126972, India) D detail view of a fruit (field photograph, unvouchered, India). Solanum jamaicense Mill. E detail view of a flower (Stern 265, Trinidad and Tobago) F detail view of fruits (Stern 265, Trinidad and Tobago). Solanum macrocarpon L. G detail view of flower (in cultivation at GAFL Avignon, unvouchered) H detail view of fruit (in cultivation at Radboud University, Nigmegen, unvouchered, material now at CGN, Wageningen). Photograph credits: A S. Knapp B-D X. Aubriot E, F S. Stern G, H S. Knapp.