Taxon: Solanum aculeatissimum Jacq.

Summary

Genus:

Solanum

Subgenus:

Leptostemonum

Section:

Acanthophora

Family:

Solanaceae

Subfamily:

Solanoideae

Tribe:

Solaneae

Nomen number:

100446

Place of publication:

Collectanea 1:100. 1787 Jan-Sep ("1786"); Icon. pl. rar. 1: t. 41. 1787 ("1781-1786")

Verified:

11/29/2010 ARS Systematic Botanists.

Accessions:

14 (3 active, 3 available) in National Plant Germplasm System. (Map it)

Other conspecific taxa

Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Solanum khasianum C. B. Clarke
Solanum khasianum C. B. Clarke var. khasianum
Solanum reflexum Schrank

No images

Conservation Status

Reference(s)

APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
Bubici, G. & M. Cirulli. 2008. Screening and selection of eggplant and wild relatives species for resistance to Leveillula taurica. Euphytica 164:339-345. Note: Netherlands journal of plant breeding
Correll, D. S. & M. C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the vascular plants of Texas
Erhardt, W. et al. 2002. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 17. Auflage
Exell, A. W. et al., eds. 1960-. Flora zambesiaca.
Freire de Varvalho, L. d'A. 1997. Diversidade taxonômica das Solanáceas no estado do Rio de Janeiro (Brasil) – II - Lycianthes e Solanum. Albertoa 4:283.
George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia. Note: = Solanum capsicoides All.
Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.
Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
IPGRI. New World Fruits Database (on-line resource).
Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. Note: poisonous
Lampe, K. F. & M. A. McCann. 1985. AMA handbook of poisonous and injurious plants Note: poisonous
Lawrence, G. H. M. 1960. The cultivated species of Solanum. Baileya 8:28.
Levin, R. A. et al. 2006. Phylogenetic relationships among the "spiny solanums" Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum, Solanaceae). Amer. J. Bot. 93:157-169.
Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
Nee, M. 1991. Synopsis of Solanum section Acanthophora: a group of interest for glycoalkaloids. In: Hawkes, J. G. et al., eds., Solanaceae III: taxonomy, chemistry, evolution 265.
Nee, M. 1999. Synopsis of Solanum in the New World. In: Nee, M. et al., eds., Solanaceae IV: advances in biology and utilization 328.
PBI Solanum Project. Solanaceae source: a global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family (on-line resource).
Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
Welman, W. G. 2003. The genus Solanum (Solanaceae) in southern Africa: subgenus Leptostemonum, the introduced sections Acanthophora and Torva. Bothalia 33:3-5.
Whalen, M. D. 1984. Conspectus of species groups in Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum. Gentes Herbarum 12:252.

Common names

Language	Name	Alternate name	note	seq	Citation
English	Dutch eggplant			1	Erhardt, W. et al. 2002. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 17. Auflage
English	love-apple			1	Lawrence, G. H. M. 1960. The cultivated species of Solanum. Baileya 8:28.

Distribution

order_code	Status	Continent	Subcontinent	Country	State	Note	Reference
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Tanzania			Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	East Tropical Africa	Uganda			Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Northeast Tropical Africa	Ethiopia			Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Malawi			PBI Solanum Project. Solanaceae source: a global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family (on-line resource).
1	Native	Africa	South Tropical Africa	Zambia			PBI Solanum Project. Solanaceae source: a global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family (on-line resource).
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	Lesotho			Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Eastern Cape		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Free State		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Gauteng		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	KwaZulu-Natal		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Limpopo		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Mpumalanga		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	North-West		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	Southern Africa	South Africa	Western Cape		Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Côte D'Ivoire			PBI Solanum Project. Solanaceae source: a global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family (on-line resource).
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Guinea			PBI Solanum Project. Solanaceae source: a global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family (on-line resource).
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Liberia			PBI Solanum Project. Solanaceae source: a global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family (on-line resource).
1	Native	Africa	West Tropical Africa	Sierra Leone			PBI Solanum Project. Solanaceae source: a global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family (on-line resource).
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Burundi			PBI Solanum Project. Solanaceae source: a global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family (on-line resource).
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Cameroon			PBI Solanum Project. Solanaceae source: a global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family (on-line resource).
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Democratic Republic of the Congo			Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
1	Native	Africa	West-Central Tropical Africa	Rwanda			PBI Solanum Project. Solanaceae source: a global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family (on-line resource).
1	Native	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	Minas Gerais		PBI Solanum Project. Solanaceae source: a global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family (on-line resource).
1	Native	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	Paraná		PBI Solanum Project. Solanaceae source: a global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family (on-line resource).
1	Native	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	Rio de Janeiro		Freire de Varvalho, L. d'A. 1997. Diversidade taxonômica das Solanáceas no estado do Rio de Janeiro (Brasil) – II - Lycianthes e Solanum. Albertoa 4:283.
1	Native	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	Rio Grande do Sul		Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
1	Native	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	Santa Catarina		Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
1	Native	Southern America	Brazil	Brazil	São Paulo		Freire de Varvalho, L. d'A. 1997. Diversidade taxonômica das Solanáceas no estado do Rio de Janeiro (Brasil) – II - Lycianthes e Solanum. Albertoa 4:283.
1	Native	Southern America	Southern South America	Paraguay	Guairá		Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
2	Cultivated					also cult.
4	Naturalized	Asia-Temperate	China	China			PBI Solanum Project. Solanaceae source: a global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family (on-line resource).
4	Naturalized	Asia-Tropical	Indian Subcontinent	India	Assam		PBI Solanum Project. Solanaceae source: a global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family (on-line resource).
6	Other					exact native range obscure	PBI Solanum Project. Solanaceae source: a global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family (on-line resource).

Native
Africa

NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Ethiopia
EAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Tanzania, Uganda
WEST-CENTRAL TROPICAL AFRICA: Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda
WEST TROPICAL AFRICA: Côte D'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone
SOUTH TROPICAL AFRICA: Malawi, Zambia
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Lesotho, South Africa [Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North-West, Western Cape]

Southern America

BRAZIL: Brazil [Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, São Paulo]
SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Paraguay [Guairá]

Cultivated (also cult.)
Naturalized
Asia-Temperate

CHINA: China

Asia-Tropical

INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India [Assam]

Other (exact native range obscure)

Reference(s)

Freire de Varvalho, L. d'A. 1997. Diversidade taxonômica das Solanáceas no estado do Rio de Janeiro (Brasil) – II - Lycianthes e Solanum. Albertoa 4:283.
Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14 National Botanical Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
Hedberg, I. & S. Edwards. 1989-. Flora of Ethiopia Note: Eritrea added in 2000
Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
PBI Solanum Project. Solanaceae source: a global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family (on-line resource).

Economic Uses

Usage	Type	Note	Reference
Environmental	ornamental		Lawrence, G. H. M. 1960. The cultivated species of Solanum. Baileya 8:28.
Environmental	ornamental		Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third. A concise dictionary of plants cultivated in the United States and Canada
Environmental	ornamental		Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Medicines	folklore	in Africa	Welman, W. G. 2003. The genus Solanum (Solanaceae) in southern Africa: subgenus Leptostemonum, the introduced sections Acanthophora and Torva. Bothalia 33:3-5.
Vertebrate poisons	mammals		Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. Note: poisonous
Vertebrate poisons	mammals		Lampe, K. F. & M. A. McCann. 1985. AMA handbook of poisonous and injurious plants Note: poisonous

Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=100446. Accessed 13 May 2026.