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Solanum centrale
Also called Bush Raisin, Bush Tomato, Desert Raisin
Kutjera (Solanum centrale) is a small, thorny, fast-growing desert shrub of arid central and western Australia, grown for its small yellow fruit that dries like a raisin. The key to growing it is irrigation in hot, dry conditions, since it fruits best after fire or good rains.
Solanum centrale, the kutjera, or Australian desert raisin, is a plant native to the more arid parts of Australia. Like other "bush tomatoes", it has been used as a food source by Central Australia and Aboriginal groups for millennia.
Solanum centrale was first described by J.M. Black in 1934.
Traditionally, the dried fruit is collected from the small bushes in late autumn and early winter. In the wild, they fruit for only two months. These days they are grown commercially by Aboriginal communities in the deserts of central Australia. Using irrigation, they have extended the fruiting season to eight months. The fruit are grown by Amata and Mimili communities in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands, by the Dinahline community near Ceduna, by the Nepabunna community in the northern Flinders Ranges, and on the Tangglun Piltengi Yunti farm in Murray Bridge, and are marketed by Outback Pride.
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 centrale 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.
