Solanum capsicoides All., Solanaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Solanum aculeatissimum Jacq.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: cockroach berry, devil's 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).

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
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 (2007)
Cook Islands Southern Cook Islands	Rarotonga Island		McCormack, Gerald (2007)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcan Sierra Negra	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005)
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).

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

References:

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

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.

McCormack, Gerald. 2007. Cook Islands biodiversity and natural heritage. On-line database.

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. 2007. 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.