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Solanum chilense is a wild tomato relative from the Atacama Desert region of northern Chile, Peru and the Galápagos. It is grown mainly by plant breeders for its tolerance of drought, salt and cold, and is rarely grown as an ornamental.
Solanum chilense is a plant species from the "tomato" subgenus Lycopersicon within the nightshade genus Solanum.
It is native to northern Chile, Galápagos, and Peru at altitudes of 0–3300 m above sea level. It is adapted to the harsh environmental conditions and salinity of the Atacama Desert. They grow in extremely dry, rocky areas and in coastal deserts. The flowers and fruits appear consistently throughout the year, but there is a noticeable increase in flowering between September and October.
It is used in plant breeding because it is resistant to disease, drought, salt, and cold.
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 chilense 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.
