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Solanum mauritianum
Also called Bugtree, Ear Leaf Nightshade, Tobacco Wood, Wild Tobacco, Wild Tobacco Bush, Wild Tobacco Tree
Earleaf nightshade is a fast-growing, multi-branched shrub or small tree from subtropical South America, reaching 2 to 4 m and sometimes up to 10 m. It is grown mainly as a garden or pioneer plant and is known as a weed in many warm regions, so it needs room and regular cutting back.
Solanum mauritianum is a small tree or shrub native to South America, including Northern Argentina, Southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Its common names include earleaf nightshade (or "ear-leaved nightshade"), woolly nightshade, flannel weed, bugweed, tobacco weed, tobacco bush, wild tobacco and kerosene plant.
It is alleged that all parts of the Solanum mauritianum plant are poisonous to humans, especially the unripe berries, and furthermore that human fatalities have resulted from the consumption of the berries, and cases of fatal poisoning in pigs and illness in cattle have been reported in Queensland.
However, mountain possums appear to eat it without ill effect, and stripping of bark, leaves, and terminal shoots has destroyed pure stands of S.mauritianum. Watt & Brandwijk state that horses, domestic chickens and all birds eat the fruit with impunity, and further state that no records of poisoning in children exist, casting doubt on contrary published accounts.
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 mauritianum 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.
