Solanum pseudocapsicum
Poisonous plant
Common name
Jerusalem cherry
Family
Solanaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Trees & Shrubs - Dicotyledons
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.
SOLPSE
Conservation status
Not applicable
Habitat
Terrestrial.
Features
Erect, unarmed shrub, glabrous or sometimes with few branched hairs on very young shoots; stems wiry, 40~120cm tall. Petiole to 2cm long, slender. Lamina 3~12 x 1~3cm, lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, glossy above; margins usu. undulate; base narrowly attenuate; apex obtuse or acute. Flowers 1~several; peduncle 0~8mm long; pedicels 5~10mm long, erect at fruiting. Calyx 4~5mm long; lobes lanceolate to ovate, slightly accrescent. Corolla approx. 15mm diam., white, glabrous; lobes oblong-ovate to triangular. Anthers 2.5~3mm long. Berry 1.5~2cm diam., globose, glossy, orange to scarlet, long-persistent; stone cells 0. Seeds approx. 3mm diam., suborbicular to reniform or obovoid, rather asymmetric; margin thickened. (-Webb et. al., 1988)
Similar taxa
A plant with attractive glossy orange or red berries around 1-2 cm diameter (Department of Conservation 1996).
Flowering
October, November, December, January, February, March, April, May
Flower colours
White, Yellow
Life cycle
Perennial. Seed is bird dispersed (Webb et al., 1988; Department of Conservation 1996). A plant that is induced by grazing (Department of Conservation 1996).
Year naturalised
1935
Origin
Eastern Sth America
Reason for introduction
Ornamental
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.
Poisonous plant
The red-orange berries are very poisonous.