Solanum capsicoides All., Solanaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 15 (Go to the risk assessment)

Other Latin names:  Solanum aculeatissimum Jacq.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: cockroach berry, devil's apple, love apple, soda apple

Hawaiian: akaaka, akaka, kīkānia lei

Maori (Cook Islands): poro‘iti taratara, poro‘iti taratara

Spanish: mata cucaracha

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Annual or short-lived shrubs up to 1 m tall, with numerous or scattered prickles on most parts, pale or straw-colored, the prickles up to 12 mm long, sparsely pilose with simple, few-celled hairs and minute glandular hairs.  Leaves entire, alternate, broadly ovate, up to 11 cm long and 10 cm wide, margins with 5-7 lobes divided 1/2 or less to midrib, apex acute or obtuse, base rounded to subcordate, petioles ca. 5 cm long.  Lower flowers perfect, upper flowers sometimes staminate, actinomorphic, 2-4 in clusters on short peduncles 3-4 mm long, arising from an internodal position, pedicels 1-1.5 cm long; calyx tubular, 2-3 mm long, the lobes broadly lanceolate, 2-3 mm long, apex acute; corolla white, deeply divided, the lobes ca. 10 mm long; stamens inserted near base of corolla tube; filaments 1-2 mm long, glabrous; anthers pale yellow, distinct, erect and cohering into a conical structure, 5-6 mm long, opening by apical pores; ovary sparsely pubescent above; style erect, 5-8 mm long; stigma green.  Berries bright orange scarlet when mature, the flesh white, dryish, depressed-globose, 2-3.5 cm in diameter.  Seeds numerous, flattened, bordered by a distinct narrow wing ca. 1.5 mm wide, 4-5 mm in diameter, testa minutely pitted"  (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1269-1270).

"Petite herbacée annuelle atteignant 1 m de hauteur, reconnaissable à ses tiges recouvertes d’épines, ses feuilles divisées en 5 à 7 lobes, ses fleurs blanches et ses petits fruits charnus ovoïdes de couleur orange vif à rouge"  (Meyer, 2008; p. 39).

Habitat/ecology:  Moist disturbed areas. In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in disturbed areas such as pastures, pond banks, along trails and in mesic forest and diverse mesic forest, 15-850 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1269-1270).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Eastern Brazil, widely grown for the ornamental fruit and now widely naturalized in tropical regions (Wagner et al., 1999; pp. 1269-1270).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (Rapa Nui Island) Rapa Nui (Easter) Island	Rapa Nui (Easter) Island (Isla de Pasqua)	introduced cultivated	Meyer, Jean-Yves (2008) (pp. 39, 43) "Nous l’avons vu plantée comme ornementale dans un jardin de Hanga Roa" (Meyer, 2008; p. 39).
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	‘Atiu Island	introduced cultivated	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 83)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Ma‘uke Island		McCormack, Gerald (2008)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		McCormack, Gerald (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Hiva Oa Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2008)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Ua Huka (Huahuna, Uahuka) Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2008)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Ua Pou (Huapu, Uapou, Uapu) Island	introduced invasive	Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. (2008)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Raiatea (Havai) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Welsh, S. L. (1998) (p. 273) Vouchers cited: BRY 26638, BRY 26628, BRY 26448
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1269-1270)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1269-1270)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1269-1270)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, R. T. (2000) (p. 8) West Maui. Vouchers cited: Forbes 2467 m (BISH), Oppenheimer H29901 (BISH), O. Degener s.n. (BISH 69955), Crosby & Anerson 1838 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1269-1270)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (pp. 1269-1270)
Samoa Western Samoa Islands	Savai‘i Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2002) (p. 11)
Tonga Tongatapu Group	‘Eua Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2001) (p. 8)
Tonga Vava‘u Group	Vava‘u Island	introduced invasive	Space, James C./Flynn, Tim (2001) (p. 69)
Vanuatu New Hebrides Islands	Tanna Island		Bishop Museum (Honolulu) (1977) (voucher ID: BISH 415785) Taxon name on voucher: Solanum capsicoides All.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 340) As Solanum aculeatissimum Jacq.
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 340) As Solanum aculeatissimum Jacq.

Comments:  Becoming widespread on Tonga (Space & Flynn, 2001). Seen at Asau, Savai‘i, Samoa (Space & Flynn, 2002). Mostly present in cultivation in the Cook Islands (Space & Flynn, 2002).

Additional information:
Additional online information about Solanum capsicoides is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Solanum capsicoides as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Solanum capsicoides may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

Other Latin names:  Solanum aculeatissimum Jacq.

References:

Bishop Museum (Honolulu). 1977. Voucher specimen #BISH 415785 (Krauss, N.L.H. 1463).

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

Lorence, David H./Wagner, Warren L. 2008. Flora of the Marquesas Islands. National Tropical Botanical Garden and the Smithsonian Institution. Online database.

McCormack, Gerald. 2008. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Meyer, Jean-Yves. 2008. Rapport de mission d'expertise a Rapa Nui du 02 au 11 Juin 2008: Plan d'action strategique pour lutter contre les plantes introduites envahissantes sur Rapa Nui (Île de pâques) [Strategic action plan to control invasive alien plants on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) [unpublished report]. Délégation à la Recherche, Ministère de l'Education, l'Enseignement supérieur et la Recherche, B.P. 20981 Papeete, Tahiti, Polynésie française. 62 pp. .

Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, R. T. 2000. New plant records from Maui, O‘ahu, and the Hawai‘i Islands. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1999. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 64:1-10.

Space, James C./Flynn, Tim. 2001. Report to the Kingdom of Tonga on invasive plant species of environmental concern.  USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 78 pp.

Space, James C./Flynn, Tim. 2002. Report to the Government of the Cook Islands on invasive plant species of environmental concern. USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 146 pp.

Space, James C./Flynn, Tim. 2002. Report to the Government of Samoa on invasive plant species of environmental concern. USDA Forest Service, Honolulu. 83 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Welsh, S. L. 1998. Flora Societensis: A summary revision of the flowering plants of the Society Islands. E.P.S. Inc., Orem, Utah. 420 pp.