Solanum xanthocarpum seed

LATIN NAME: SOLANUM XANTHOCARPUM

COMMON NAME: Yellow-fruit Nightshade

The yellow-fruit nightshade lanterns the low, spreading, thorny herb with the oval, softly lobed leaves and the small, white, star-shaped flowers that open through the summer, the round, yellow fruits following and ripening to the glossy, orange-yellow, each fruit hanging like the small lantern among the spines. The plant grows into the dense, prickly clump, and it stands the warm weather and the dry spells well. It likes the sun, and the moist, well-drained soil.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The medicinal chemistry of the yellow-fruit nightshade gives it a recognised place in the research on the traditional medicinal plants of the nightshade family, and the xanthocarpum species appears in the studies of the fruit alkaloids and the warm-lowland growth. The work looks at the traditional preparations, the spiny, lantern-fruited habit, and the seed biology. The pharmacognosists value the folk remedies, and the growers of the traditional medicinal herbs keep the species in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the warm garden, the yellow-fruit nightshade lanterns the summer branches with the yellow fruits. The dense, prickly clump makes the useful boundary plant, the fruits feed the birds, and the plant has served the traditional remedies for the ages. It grows well in the moist, well-drained, sunny ground. Lantern-fruited, warm-climate and traditional.

To grow the Yellow-fruit Nightshade from seed, soak the seeds in the lukewarm water overnight, then sow them into the shallow drills of the tray, keep the pot in the warm, bright spot and water gently, and the seedlings surface within a few weeks.

Keep the pot warm and steadily moist, and pot the seedlings on as they grow. The yellow lanterns come within the season or two. Plant the young herbs in the sunny, moist ground, and the yellow lanterns will glow through the summer.

Seeds from Solanum virginianum, also yellow fruit nightshade, yellow berried nightshade, Thai green eggplant, Thai striped eggplant. Not to be confused with Thai eggplant, which are edible varieties of the eggplant species Solanum melongena. It is a medicinal plant used in India, but the fruit is poisonous.