''Solanum mammosum'', commonly known as nipplefruit, fox head, cow's udder, or apple of Sodom, is an inedible Pan-American tropical fruit. The plant is grown for ornamental purposes, in part because of the

distal Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...

end of the fruit's resemblance to a human

breast The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and secret ...

, while the

proximal Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...

end looks like a cow's

udder An udder is an organ formed of two or four mammary glands on the females of dairy animals and ruminants such as cattle, goats, and sheep. An udder is equivalent to the breast in primates and elephantine pachyderms. The udder is a single mass han ...

. It is an

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year ** Yearbook ** Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), ...

in the family

Solanaceae The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and orn ...

, and part of the genus ''

Solanum ''Solanum'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include three food crops of high economic importance: the potato, the tomato and the eggplant (aubergine, brinjal). It is the largest genus in the nightshade family Solanaceae ...

'', making the plant a relative of the

eggplant Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit. Mos ...

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

, and

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

. This poisonous fruit is native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, but has been

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

in Southern Mexico,

Greater Antilles The Greater Antilles ( es, Grandes Antillas or Antillas Mayores; french: Grandes Antilles; ht, Gwo Zantiy; jam, Grieta hAntiliiz) is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. The plant adapts well to most soils, but thrives in moist,

loamy soil Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

The plant has thin

simple leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...

occurring in alternating branching patterns with prominent

venation Venation may refer to: * Venation (botany), the arrangement of veins in leaves * Wing venation, the arrangement of veins in insect wings See also * * Vernation Vernation (from ''vernal'' meaning ''spring'', since that is when leaves spring fort ...

. Hairy thorns cover the stem and branches of the plant. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

contains five to eight purple elongating buds. The fruit is a

berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

type, and has waxy yellow skin with reddish-brown seeds. The plant is propagated by the distribution of seeds.

Uses

Solanum mammosum at Lunar New Year Fair HK 2015

Folkloric uses of the plant range from treating

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

with a root

decoction Decoction is a method of extraction by boiling herbal or plant material (which may include stems, roots, bark and rhizomes) to dissolve the chemicals of the material. It is the most common preparation method in various herbal-medicine systems. De ...

, to curing

athlete's foot Athlete's foot, known medically as ''tinea pedis'', is a common skin infection of the feet caused by a fungus. Signs and symptoms often include itching, scaling, cracking and redness. In rare cases the skin may blister. Athlete's foot fungus m ...

by rubbing leaf juices on the skin. Although these medical uses are not widely practiced and vary through cultures, they are an explanation for why this plant has been cultivated. The fruit has been embraced by Eastern cultures. It is primarily used as decorative foliage for religious and festival floral arrangements in Asia. The fruit is imported for the creation of Chinese

New Year tree New Year trees are decorated trees similar to Christmas trees that are displayed to specifically celebrate the New Year. They should not be confused with the practice of leaving up a Christmas tree until after New Year's Day (traditionally until ...

s, due to their golden colored fruit and the belief that the five "fingers" on the fruit represent longevity for the family. In Chinese culture, the plant is known as ''five fingered eggplant'' (五指茄) and in Japan it is known as ''Fox Face'' (フォックスフェイス). The juice of the fruit can be used as a

detergent A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with cleansing properties when in dilute solutions. There are a large variety of detergents, a common family being the alkylbenzene sulfonates, which are soap-like compounds that are more ...

in place of a washing powder, making it similar to the soap nut. The Kofan People of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

use the plant as an insect repellent, primarily against cockroaches. The fruit works as a repellent because of the toxicity of

steroidal A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and ...

glycoalkaloid Glycoalkaloids are a family of chemical compounds derived from alkaloids to which sugar groups are appended. Several are potentially toxic, most notably the poisons commonly found in the plant species ''Solanum dulcamara'' (bittersweet nightshade) ...

. Although the fruit is poisonous, it can be cooked and eaten like a vegetable when it is unripe. It provides a good source of calcium, phosphorus, iron and vitamin B. One way that the fruit can be prepared is boiling the whole fruit and drinking the juices once boiled. In the Philippines, not only is the fruit eaten, but the leaves are also prepared as a tea considered to be

anodyne An anodyne is a drug used to lessen pain through reducing the sensitivity of the brain or nervous system. The term was common in medicine before the 20th century, but such drugs are now more often known as analgesics or painkillers. The term ''a ...

, a mild narcotic.

Synonyms

This plant is not easily confused, but several now-invalid

scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

s have been given to it:Solanaceae Source (2006)
''Solanum mammosum''
Version of 2006. Retrieved 2008-SEP-26. * ''Solanum corniculatum'' E.André (''non'' Huber: preoccupiedThe identity of Huber's ''S. corniculatum'' is unclear, but his description precedes that of André: Solanaceae Source (2006)) :''S. corniculatum'' of Hiern refers to an unidentifiable species of ''

Lycianthes ''Lycianthes'' is a genus of plants from the nightshade family ( Solanaceae), found in both the Old World and the New World, but predominantly in the latter. It contains roughly 150 species, mostly from tropical America, with 35-40 species in As ...

''. *

''Solanum cornigerum'' E.André :''S. cornigerum'' of Dunal in

de Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candolle ...

is now '' S. viscosissimum''. * ''Solanum globiferum'' Dunal * ''Solanum mammosum var. corniculum'' Ridl. * ''Solanum mamosissimum'' Ram.Goyena * ''Solanum platanifolium'' Sims :''S. platanifolium'' var. ''lagoense'' is the '' Solanum affine'' of

Otto Sendtner Otto Sendtner (27 June 1813 – 21 April 1859) was a German botanist and phytogeography, phytogeographer born in Munich. He received his education at the University of Munich, where he was a student of Karl Friedrich Schimper (1803–1867). Aft ...

. * ''Solanum villosissimum'' Zuccagni In addition, the name ''Solanum mammosum'' was also invalidly given to other nightshade species: * ''S. mammosum'' as described by J.A. Pavón Jiménez based on Dunal in de Candolle refers to '' S. circinatum''. * ''S. mammosum'' as described by W. Herbert based on Dunal in de Candolle is the '' S. torvum'' of O.P. Swartz.

Footnotes

References

*Botanical.com (1995): &ndash
Nightshade, Woody
Retrieved 2008-SEP-26. *Lans, Cheryl; Harper, Tisha; Georges, Karla & Bridgewater, Elmo (2001): Medicinal and ethnoveterinary remedies of hunters in Trinidad. '' BMC Complement. Altern. Med.'' 1: 10. PDF fulltext
*"A Morphological Study of Solanum mammosum and Its Mammiform Fruit," ''Botanical Gazette'' 130, no. 4 (Dec., 1969): 230-237. DOI: 10.1086/336496 *"Solanum mammosum (nipplefruit nightshade)" ''Invasive Species Compendium.'' http://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/110316. 14 April 2015.

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1639604 mammosum Medicinal plants Flora of South America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus