Solanum

Nightshades
Genus:Solanum
Family:Solanaceae
Weediness:Some species are problem weeds
Pollination:Insects

Solanum is a large, variable genus of annual plants and perennial plants, forbs, vines, sub-shrubs, shrubs, and small trees. They often have attractive fruit and flowers. Most are poisonous, but many bear edible fruits, leaves, or tubers, and the genus includes several cultivated species, including three major food crops: Tomatoes, Potatoes, and Eggplants.

Description edit

Annual, perennial, or tropical herbs or vines with alternate leaves and a watery sap. The flowers are in cymes or solitary, perfect, showy, 4-5 parted, with thick yellow anthers. Fruits are fleshy berries. Most species have a distinctive scent common to the genus.

Species edit

 
Eggplant (Solanum melongena)
 
Forked Nightshade (Solanum sisymbriifolium)
 
Solanum mammosum
 
Solanum pseudocapsicum fruit

Uses edit

Aside from the species grown as food crops, many species are cultivated for their showy flowers and fruits. Several species are weeds.

Maintenance edit

Monitoring for pests and diseases is very important for all species of Solanum.

Pests and diseases edit

Crown Gall

Stem Rot

  • Erwinia carotovora var. atroseptica: Potato Black Leg
  • Didymella lycopersicae

Leaf Spots

  • Alternaria solani
  • Ascochyta lycopersici
  • Cercospora dulcamarae
  • Mycosphaerella solani
  • Phyllosticta pseudocapsici
  • Stemphylium solani

Wilts

Blights

Root Rots

  • Fusarium: Potato Dry Rot
  • Helminthosporium solani: Potato Silver Scurf
  • Phoma exigua var. foveata: Potato Gangrene
  • Sporangospora subterranea: Potato Powdery Scab
  • Streptomyces scabies: Potato Scab

Damping Off

Viruses

  • Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus
  • Mosaic
  • Tobacco Mosaic Virus

Mop-top

  • Potato Mop Top Virus

Spraing

  • Tobacco Rattle Virus
  • Potato Mop Top Virus

Leaf Roll

  • Potato Leaf Roll Virus

Other Viri

  • Potato Virus X
  • Potato Virus Y

Root Knots

Potato Cyst Nematodes

Calcium Deficiency

Drought (causes hollow tubers on potatoes)

Aphids

Hoppers

Psyllids

Whiteflies

Bugs

Crickets

  • Mole Crickets

Thrips

Maggots

Beetles

Caterpillars

Mites

Millipedes

Slugs and Snails

References edit

  • Britton, Nathaniel Lord (1913). An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Volume 3 (second edition ed.). Dover Publications, inc. pp. 164–167. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Ann Fowler Rhoads and Timothy A. Block (2000). The Plants of Pennsylvania: An Illustrated Manual. Anna Anisko, illustrator. Morris Arboretum, University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 684–685. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • P. D. Strausbaugh and Earl L. Core (1977). Flora of West Virginia (Second ed.). Seneca Books, Grantsville, W. Virginia. pp. 830–832. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Christopher Brickell and Judith D. Zuk (1997). The American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. DK Publishing. pp. 964–965. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Staff of the L. H. Bailey Hortorium (1976). Hortus Third: A Concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press. pp. 1054–1056. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Pirone, Pascal P. (1978). Diseases & Pests of Ornamental Plants (Fifth Edition ed.). John Wiley & Sons, New York. p. 487. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Cranshaw, Whitney (2004). Garden Insects of North America: The Ultimate Guide to Backyard Bugs. Princeton University Press. p. 621. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Pippa Greenwood, Andrew Halstead, A.R. Chase, Daniel Gilrein (2000). American Horticultural Society Pests & Diseases: The Complete Guide to Preventing, Identifying, and Treating Plant Problems (First Edition ed.). Dorling Kindersley (DK) Publishing, inc. p. 202. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)