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Solanum atropurpureum |
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One of the spiny members of the eggplant family. In fact, this was the first one we grew in our garden, spurred in no small part by the colorful description in the J.L. Hudson seed catalog (from which I've borrowed the "common" name, malevolence). That was all before I started taking pictures of my plants, so I was glad to have an opportunity to grow it again and refresh my memory. The most striking features on this one are the shiny deep-purple stems, covered in fierce thorns of the same color. The flowers are creamy yellow - a departure from the purple that is more common in the ornamental solanums we grow. Fruits are small and round; they start off two-toned stripey green, and mature to yellow. As solanums go, this one is relatively frost-tolerant - the photo at right was taken after a few freezes into the 20s.
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| | The early-spring cleanup job is somewhat daunting... |
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We left this plant behind in our Pennsylvania garden (and wish it well); we don't grow it in Houston. Read the other spiny solanums in our garden Seed for this plant is included on my seed trade list One or more images of this plant are included in my stock photo catalog About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Solanum atropurpureum
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| Chris Orr | May 18, 2009 | What a magnificent plant! The pictures you have provided really make the thorns look beautiful and at least mildly dangerous. Is this plant rare? I have never seen anything like it or seen it for sale. But, then again, I guess most places don't carry plants that could be hazardous. Great find! |
| Harold | Jun 23, 2010 | It should be mentioned that the stem, leaves, and fruit from the plant are toxic and are not to be ingested. |
- Seed from '07 trade. Baggy 75F (100%G, 10-14d)
- Seed from '08 garden. Baggy 75F (100%G, 5-11d)
- Seed from '09 garden. Baggy 75F (100%G, 5-11d)
- Seed from '09 garden. Baggy 75F (100%G, 6-8d)
- Seed from '11 garden. Baggy 75F (95%G, 7-12d)
- Seed from '11 garden. Baggy 75F (95%G, 8-16d)
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