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Solanum repandum is an evergreen shrub from Pacific islands, grown occasionally for its edible fruit. It is a short-lived perennial that needs a long, warm growing season and is rare in cultivation outside its native range.
Solanum repandum is a species of evergreen shrub native to various island groups across the Pacific Ocean (Bismarck Archipelago, Cook Islands, Fiji, Mariana islands, Marquesas, Niue, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Society Islands, Vanuatu), and occasionally grown for its edible fruit.
Only partially domesticated and very rare in cultivation outside of its native range, it is also known as kokoua or huou. Solanum repandum will apparently hybridize with a number of close relatives, including the South American naranjilla, pseudolulo, and Solanum candidum, along with the Solanum lasiocarpum, from India. Solanum repandum is, in fact, so similar in growth habit and in its fruit that it has been possibly considered a subspecies of either Solanum quitoense (naranjilla) or Solanum lasiocarpum.
Solanum repandum is presumed to be native to a wide areas scattered around the archipelagos of the Pacific. 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, though hybridization and breeding might make this a species worthy of further investigation.
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 repandum 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.
