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Solanum linnaeanum
Also called Poison Apple, Sodom Apple, Black Spine Nightshade, Devil's Apple, Nightshade, Yellow Bitter Apple, Bitter Apple
Solanum linnaeanum is a spiny nightshade shrub from southern Africa, grown as an ornamental and often invasive where introduced. It is poisonous, and its yellow fruits and foliage should be kept away from people and pets.
Solanum linnaeanum is a nightshade species known as devil's apple and, in some places where it is introduced, apple of Sodom. The latter name is also used for other nightshades and entirely different plants elsewhere, in particular the poisonous milkweed Calotropis procera.
This poisonous plant bearing tomato-like fruit is native to many African countries Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and is considered to be an invasive species in Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Fiji, New Caledonia, other Pacific Islands, the Aseer region of Saudi Arabia, and northern areas of Pakistan. When raw its fruits are green and look exactly like the Thai eggplant and when ripe they are yellow. In Ukambani eastern Kenya children in the villages in summer season use the poisonous yellow fruit as football, cautiously.
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 linnaeanum 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.
