Solanum nitidum
Not known
Moist microhabitats in puna (high elevation grassland) and montane cloud forests from central Ecuador to Bolivia, 3000-4000(-4500) m.
Solanum nitidum is a member of the Solanum nitidum species group of the Dulcamaroid clade (Bohs, 2005).
Herrera, F.L. 1941. Synopsis de la flora de Cuzco 1.
Lima, Peru.
Cusihuamán, G.A. 1976. Diccionario Quechua: Cuzco-Collao.
Lima, Peru.
Knapp, S. 1989. A revision of the Solanum nitidum species group (section Holophylla pro parte: Solanaceae).
Bull. Br. Mus. Nat. Hist. (Bot.) 19: 63-112.
Bohs, L. 2005. Major clades in Solanum based on ndhF sequences.
Pp. 27-49 in R. C. Keating, V. C. Hollowell, & T. B. Croat (eds.), A festschrift for William G. D’Arcy: the legacy of a taxonomist. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 104. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.
Solanum nitidum is a common component of high elevation areas in Peru and Bolivia, and it is also commonly grown in household gardens for its medicinal properties. It is most closely related to S. muenscheri of Guatemala and S Mexico, differing from that species in its red berries and its Andean distribution. Pubescence is quite variable in S. nitidum, but many intermediates exist and there appears to be no geographical component to the variation.
Broad repand leaves are found in young plants of S. nitidum, and leaf shape is quite variable across the species range. Polymorphism for flower colour exists in S. nitidum, with some populations consisting of only plants with white flowers, while others are of mixed white and purple flowered plants. White-flowered plants are much rarer than those with purple flowers. This colour polymorphism is common in the spiny solanums and does occur throughout the genus.
Solanum nitidum is commonly grown in household gardens in highland communities for its medicinal properties as well as for its attractive purple flowers. The most widespread vernacular names are variations of ñuñumaya: ‘ñuñu’ = breast or teat in Quechua. The term ñuñumiya as an entry in one Quechua dictionary (Cusihuamán, 1976) as [transl.] ‘ñoñomia, shrub with grape-like berries, but that are very bitter’. Herrera (1941) records the use of the bitter berries as an emetic and sudorific in the treatment of various diseases, and the use of the juice of the berries being smeared on the breasts of women wanting to wean their children (probably the origin of the common name in Quechua). In Puno (label data from Mullins 7), the bright red berries are used as a dye. Ruiz & Pavón record the use of poultices of the leaves to open wounds and draw out splinters (‘espinas’) and infections (a suppurating agent). In Bolivia, the boiled berries are used as an insecticidal wash against ticks and fleas for both humans and domestic animals (label data from Alvárez 84) and are also used in the treatment of a variety of contagious skin diseases. Crushed leaves are also used as a compress for skin conditions. Most of these uses and treatments depend upon the extreme bitterness of the berries, the bitter taste is probably due to their high alkaloid content.
Solanum nitidum was chosen over the simultaneously published S. calygnaphalum Ruiz & Pav. by J.F. Macbride (1962) in his treatment of Solanaceae for the Flora of Peru (see Article 57.2 of the International Code for Botanical Nomenclature).