Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Cimatli

(Solanum boldoense)

galery
en

Description

Solanum cardiophyllum, known as cimatli, the heartleaf horsenettle or heartleaf nightshade, is a North American species, found primarily in Mexico. It is also present in some parts of the SW United States, but was probably introduced. This is one of the few wild potato species that was commonly used as food. The Aztec and the Chichimeca ate S. cardiophyllum and the practice continues in some parts of Mexico today. There was at least one farm that was growing S. cardiophyllum, S. ehrenbergii, and S. stoloniferum for market in Jalisco as recently as 2010. It is listed as an invasive weed in some parts of the US. Plants can reach a little over two feet in height, although many are much smaller in the wild. Although S. cardiophyllum has small tubers, reaching about an inch in diameter, they compensate with a rare trait in wild potatoes: palatability. The flavor is not easily distinguishable from domesticated potatoes. The level of glykoalkaloids in some accessions of this species is sometimes very low, about 2mg / 100g. Solanum is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include three food crops of high economic importance: the potato, the tomato and the eggplant (aubergine, brinjal). It also contains the nightshades and horse nettles, as well as numerous plants cultivated for their ornamental flowers and fruit. Solanum species show a wide range of growing habits, such as annuals and perennials, vines, subshrubs, shrubs, and small trees. Many formerly independent genera like Lycopersicon (the tomatoes) and Cyphomandra are now included in Solanum as subgenera or sections. Thus, the genus today contains roughly 1,500–2,000 species. The generic name was first used by Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79) for a plant also known as strychnos, most likely S. nigrum. Its derivation is uncertain, possibly stemming from the Latin word sol, meaning "sun", referring to its status as a plant of the sun. The species most commonly called nightshade in North America and Britain is Solanum dulcamara, also called bittersweet or woody nightshade. Its foliage and egg-shaped red berries are poisonous, the active principle being solanine, which can cause convulsions and death if taken in large doses. The black nightshade (S. nigrum) is also generally considered poisonous, but its fully ripened fruit and foliage are cooked and eaten in some areas. The deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) is not in the genus Solanum, but is a member of the family Solanaceae.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order:Solanales
Family:Solanaceae
Genus:Solanum
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