Turkey berry (Solanum torvum) is a spiny, bushy perennial shrub or small tree of the nightshade family, grown mainly as a vigorous rootstock for eggplant. It needs full sun, warm wet conditions and fertile, moist soil.
Family
Solanaceae (Nightshade family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Keep soil consistently moist, especially in the growing season, and avoid waterlogging.
Soil
Fertile, well-drained moist soil or loam.
Temperature
20–35 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Easy
Safety
Toxic: Unripe and ripe berries, leaves and other parts contain solanine-type alkaloids, which are harmful if eaten.. Toxic to cats and dogs (ASPCA).
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
Mexico to N. South America, Caribbean, E. Brazil
Climate
wet tropical
About
Solanum torvum, also known as pendejera, turkey berry, devil's fig, pea eggplant, platebrush or susumber, is a bushy, erect and spiny perennial plant used horticulturally as a rootstock for eggplant. Grafted plants are very vigorous and tolerate diseases affecting the root system, thus allowing the crop to continue for a second year.
Where it grows
In Puerto Rico, turkey berry grows in upland sites that receive from about 1000 to 4000 mm of annual precipitation. It also grows in riparian zones in drier areas. Turkey berry grows on all types of moist, fertile soil at elevations from near sea level to almost 1,000 m in Puerto Rico (Little and others 1974) and 2,000 m in Papua New Guinea (Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk 2001). Given an equal start after disturbance, turkey berry quickly overtops most herbs, grasses, and other shrubs. It grows best in full sunlight and does well in light shade or shade for part of the day, but cannot survive under a closed forest canopy. Turkey berry single plants, groups, and thickets are most frequently seen on roadsides, vacant lots, brushy pastures, recently abandoned
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Solanum torvum 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.