Bush tomato
Bush tomatoes are the fruit or entire plants of certain
Bush tomato plants are small shrubs whose growth is encouraged by fire and disturbance.[1]
The fruit of a number of species have been used as food sources by Aboriginal people in the drier areas of Australia.[1]
A number of Solanum species contain significant levels of solanine and as such are highly poisonous.[1] It is strongly recommended that people unfamiliar with the plant do not experiment with the different species, as differentiating between them can often be difficult.[citation needed]
Some of the edible species are:
- Solanum aviculare kangaroo apple[2]
- Solanum centrale, also known as desert raisin,[1] bush raisin or bush sultana, or by the native name kutjera
- Solanum chippendalei bush tomato, named after taxonomic botanist George Chippendale[1]
- Solanum diversiflorum bush tomato, karlumbu, pilirta, wamurla[1]
- Solanum ellipticum potato bush, very similar to Solanum quadriloculatum which is poisonous.[1]
- Solanum laciniatum kangaroo apple.[3]
- Solanum orbiculatum round-leaved solanum[1]
- Solanum phlomoides wild tomato.[1]
In 1859, aboriginal people were observed burning off the outer skin of S. aviculare as the raw state would blister their mouths.[4] S. chippendalei is consumed by first splitting the fruit, scraping the centre out and eating the outer flesh as the seeds and surrounding placenta are bitter.[1] S. diversiflorum is roasted before being eaten or dried.[1] Fruit of S.orbiculatum is edible, but the fruit of the large leafed form may be bitter.[1] Fruit of S. phlomoides appears to be edible after the removal of seeds and roasting or sundrying.[1]
Solanum aviculare contains solasodine, a steroid used in the manufacture of oral contraceptives.[2] Solanum plastisexum, a rare species first described in 2019, is distinguished among plants for exhibiting "breeding system fluidity" – that is, it has no stable sexual expression.
References
- ^ ISBN 1-876334-86-X
- ^ ISBN 0-7318-1211-5
- ^ Donaldson, Stuart (16 December 2003). "Solanum laciniatum". Growing Native Plants. Australian National Botanic Gardens. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
- ^ Bunce, Daniel Travels with Dr. Leichhardt,(1859), London