Solanum torvum

Common Name: susumber, turkey berry

Family: Solanaceae

Common Synonyms: none

USDA Hardiness Zone: 8a-11

Growth Habit: Shrub or tree

Origin: Tropical America

FISC Category: 2

FDACS Listed Noxious Weed: Yes

Introduction Date: Before 1900

IFAS Assessment:

• North: PROHIBITED
• Central: PROHIBITED
• South: PROHIBITED

Description

Evergreen, widely branched, prickly shrub or small tree, to 5 m tall. Stems armed with stout, flattened prickles, usually straight or slightly curved. Twigs stellate tomentose. Leaves alternate, simple, petioled, blades oval to elliptic, unlobed to strongly lobed, to 25 cm long, bases unequal, tips pointed, surfaces densely stellate hairy below, less dense above, with usually a few long prickles on midveins (especially above). Flowers many, in large branched clusters, with simple, mostly glandular hairs on stalks. Corolla bright white, to 2.5 cm across, lobed about 1/3 of its length, lobes not recurved. Stamens with prominent anthers. Fruit an erect, subglobose berry, to 1.5 cm wide, yellow when ripe.

Habitat

Disturbed uplands and swamps

Comments

Sprouts from roots, forming thickets. Flowers and fruits all year. Seeds probably dispersed by birds and other animals.

Control Methods

• Manual: Mechanical: Entire plant must be removed
• Chemical: Glyphosate, 2,4-D, picloram, or triclopyr applied at standard rates (PIER)
• Biological: The leaf-eating chrysomelid beetle Leptinotarsa undecimlineata, is reported to be host-specific and might be a useful control agent

Control Notes

NA

References

Langeland, K.A., H.M. Cherry, C.M. McCormick, K.C. Burks. 2008. Identification and Biology of Non-Native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas-Second Edition. IFAS Publication SP 257. University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

PIER. 2011. Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER): Solanum torvum. http://www.hear.org/pier/species/solanum_torvum.htm. Accessed on June 26, 2014.