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Solanum candidum
Fuzzyfruit nightshade is a short-lived evergreen shrub from the Andes, grown occasionally for its small, hairy edible berries. It needs a long, frost-free growing season, and its fruit is hard to eat because it does not detach easily when ripe.
Solanum candidum is a species of evergreen shrub native to South America and occasionally grown for its edible fruit.
Undomesticated and very rare in cultivation, it is known as fuzzyfruit nightshade, naranjilla silvestre or chichilegua. The fruit somewhat resembles the related cocona (Solanum sessiliflorum), and Solanum candidum will apparently hybridize with a number of close relatives, including cocona, naranjilla, and pseudolulo. One notable difference is the extremely hirsute fruits, which – unlike most of its relatives – do not detach easily upon full ripening, which is a hindrance to eating the ripe fruit. Nonetheless, S. candidum is a close relative of other nightshades cultivated for their edible fruit, including the tomato (S. lycopersicum), the naranjilla (S. quitoense) and the eggplant (S. melongena).
Solanum candidum is presumed to be native to the temperate Andean regions of Colombia, Peru and Chile. Like the cocona, naranjilla, and Indian nightshade, S. candidium can bear fruit within 1 or 2 years from seed. A short-lived perennial, fruit production requires a rather long growing season, which limits its agricultural potential in more temperate climates. Like the naranjilla and cocona, S. candidum is best adapted to subtropical cloud forest climates, where frost is unknown, but extreme heat is likewise very rare or unknown. The fruits are round berries, covered in a persistent fur even when ripe, to 2 cm in size, which ripen to yellow or red. Ripe fruits are less juicy than more commonly cultivated relatives, though the flavor is reportedly appealing.
Dwarf Tamarillo · Solanum acaule · Sodaapple nightshade · Ethiopian nightshade · American black nightshade · Solanum arcanum · New Zealand nightshade · Solanum berthaultii · Tamarillo · Solanum brevicaule · Solanum cajanumense · Bitter Apple
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Solanum candidum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
Pet safety from the ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plant lists.
