Solanum aviculare var. aviculare
Poisonous plant
Common names
poroporo
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
Simplified description
Fleshy shrub to 3 m tall bearing dark green thin narrow leaves that have 1–3 large sharp lobes and large white or pink flowers that have a projecting yellow centre. Leaves 4–40 cm long by 1–1.5 cm wide. Flowers to 4 cm wide. Fruit yellow or orange, 15–25mm long. POISONOUS.
Flower colours
Blue, Violet/Purple
Detailed description
Small, softly woody shrub up to 3 × 2 m. Branches sparse to many, suberect to spreading, initially dark green, purple-green to reddish-brown, maturing with fine grey, chartaceous bark. Leaves alternate with decurrent, fleshy petioles up to 30 mm long; lamina fleshy-membranous to almost coriaceous, 40–400 × 10–15–(20) mm, dark green, purple-green or rarely yellow-green, narrowly lanceolate to elliptic, entire, or deeply 1–3–(4)-lobed to pinnatifid; lobes/pinnae broadly lanceolate. Flowers axillary in 1–3 few to many-flowered cymes. Calyx lobes short, broad, spreading. Corolla broadly campanulate to rotate, up to 40 mm diameter; tube up to 10 mm long, funnelform, widely flaring at mouth, lobes 10-15 mm, lanceolate; white, lavender, or dark blue , in all cases usually fading to white after anthesis. Filaments up to 5 mm long. Anthers 3–6 mm long, oblong, spreading, yellow, opening by apical slits. Berry 15–25 mm long, broadly ovoid to ellipsoid, maturing yellow or orange, fleshy, pendent; stone cells sparse, inconspicuous. Seeds 1.3–2 mm long, dull to semi-glossy, orange-brown, purple-brown or dark purple brown, obovate to cricular or transversely elliptic, often asymmetric, compressed.
Similar taxa
Often confused with the much more widespread and common S. laciniatum Aiton which has much wider (up to 50 mm diameter) rotate flowers with broader lobes, that are distinctly frilled (ruffled), emarginate lobe apices, large seeds (2–3 mm cf. 1–2 mm) and a different chromosome number (2n = 92 cf 2n = 46). S. aviculare var. aviculare differs from var. latifolium G.T.S.Baylis by its consistently narrower leaves and taller growth habit. Sterile material of either Solanum is impossible to determine to species level.
Distribution
Indigenous. New Zealand: Kermadec Islands, North Island, South Island (south to about Banks Peninsula and Westland), Chatham Islands. Also Norfolk Island (extinct), Lord Howe Island (extinct), eastern Australia and New Guinea. Naturalised in at least China and Russia, probably elsewhere.
Habitat
Coastal to lowland (0–400 m a.s.l.). Usually in open shrubland, in and around sea bird nesting grounds, seal haul-outs, or along forest margins. Sometimes an urban weed.
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | Threatened – Nationally Endangered | Qualifiers: PF, SO
Threats
It has been observed that Solanum aviculare var. aviculare is becoming less common in the northern North Island though why is not clear. It was assessed as ‘Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable’ by de Lange et al. (2018). A full nationwide conservation assessment is needed to clarify its exact status.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
Solanum aviculare var. albiflorum Cheeseman, Solanum cheesemanii Herasim., Solanum aviculare f. aviculare nom. nud.
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
Throughout the year
Fruiting
Throughout the year
Propagation technique
Easily grown from fresh seed and semi-hardwood cuttings. Tolerant of heavy shade and full sun, and dry or wet soils but not frost. However, as with all poroporo the green fruits are extremely toxic. The white flowered form (known as var. albiflorum in some flora treatments) is particularly attractive and worth growing.
Other information
Cultural Use/Importance
The fruits of this species and S. laciniatum Aiton yield important steroid precursors, so both are widely and commercially grown, especially in eastern Europe, Russia and China.
Poisonous plant
As with Solanum laciniatum, the yellow or green berries are poisonous but when ripe (orange) they lose much of their toxicity. The symptoms are often delayed up to 6–12 hours and may include a fever, sweating, nausea and abdominal pain. Click on this link for more information about Poisonous native plants.
Etymology
solanum: Derivation uncertain - possibly from the Latin word sol, meaning “sun,” referring to its status as a plant of the sun. Another possibility is that the root was solare, meaning “to soothe,” or solamen, meaning “a comfort,” which would refer to the soothing effects of the plant upon ingestion.
aviculare: Small bird
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
SOLAVA
Chromosome number
2n = 46
Previous conservation statuses
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Threatened – Nationally Vulnerable | Qualifiers: DP, TO, Sp
2012 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: DP, Sp, TO
2009 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: DP, Sp, TO
2004 | Not Threatened
Regional conservation statuses
Auckland: 2025 | Threatened – Regionally Critical | Qualifiers: DPR, DPS, DPT, EF, PF, TO
The regional threat classification system leverages off the national assessments in the NZTCS, providing information relevant for the regional context. Auckland conservation status information is sourced from the “Conservation status of vascular plant species in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland” Simpkins E et al. (2025) report.
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Allan HH. 1961. Flora of New Zealand, Volume I. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Filicopsida, Gymnospermae, Dicotyledones. Government Printer, Wellington, NZ. 1085 p.
de Lange PJ, Rolfe JR, Barkla JW, Courtney SP, Champion PD, Perrie LR, Beadel SM, Ford KA, Breitwieser I, Schönberger I, Hindmarsh-Walls R, Heenan PB, Ladley K. 2018. Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 22. Department of Conservation, Wellington, NZ. 82 p. https://www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/science-and-technical/nztcs22entire.pdf.
Webb CJ, Sykes WR, Garnock-Jones PJ. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV. Naturalised Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, Dicotyledons. Botany Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Christchurch, NZ. 1365 p.
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared for the NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 12 May 2006. Description by P.J. de Lange with some elements based on Allan (1961) and Webb et al. (1988).
Some of this factsheet information is derived from Flora of New Zealand Online and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Solanum aviculare var. aviculare Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/solanum-aviculare-var-aviculare/ (Date website was queried)