Hairy egg plant
Solanum stramoniifolium

Family: Solanaceae

What it is like

A herb or shrub. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows about 1.5 m high. It can have spines. Forms without spines have been selected. The leaves are simple and alternate. They are broadly oval and 20 cm long by 12 cm wide and they can have lobes. The fruit are round and 2 cm across. The fruit are red. They are slightly hairy. There are several seeds.

There are about 1400 Solanum species.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. In the Amazon it grows in the floodplains and the uplands. It grows up to 1,000 m above sea level.

Countries/locations it is found in

Amazon, Asia, Bolivia (country/location of origin), Brazil, Cambodia, Central America, Colombia, Ecuador (country/location of origin), Guiana, Guianas, Guyana, India, Indochina, Panama, Peru (country/location of origin), SE Asia, South America (country/location of origin), Suriname, Thailand, Venezuela

How it is used for food

The fruit are used to make chilli sauce. The fruit are eaten after the brown hairs are rubbed off.

It is a cultivated food plant. The fruit are popular with children.

Edible parts

Fruit

How it is grown

Fruit are produced towards the ends of the rainy season.

Its other names

Local names

Buk-uk, Bulibuli, Bura bura, Buruburu plimpla, Coconilla, Cu'a tton'tto, Dog plimpla, E-To-Pa-a, Jurubeba, Juruwera'ir, Kukuna, Lulo pequeno, Ma eok, Ma-uk, Menimo, Naranjilla roja, Paremuru, Sacha naranjilla, Shiwagkush, Toahui'ca, Tomate, Tomate silvestre, Trorp mormeh, Tton'tto, Tupirillo, Uchu laran, Uvilla, Vaicho, Wichilla kukuna, Ya kakuch, Yaa kukuch

Synonyms

Solanum coconilla Huber; Solanum demerarense Poepp.; Solanum demerarense Dunal; Solanum orinocense Kunth; Solanum platyphyllum Dunal; and others Solanum ferox C.B.Clarke;