Solanum linnaeanum Hepper & P.Jaeger, Solanaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Apple of Sodom, Sodom-apple

Hawaiian: pōpolo kīkānia, thorny pōpolo, yellow-fruited pōpolo

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Shrubs up to 1 m tall and in diameter, most parts armed with prominent, stout, nearly straight, straw-colored prickles up to 15 mm long, pubescent with stellate hairs, sparse on upper leaf surface, dense on lower surface, and also with minute, simple, glandular hairs.  Leaves simple, alternate, ovate-elliptic in outline, ca. 8 cm long and 6 cm wide, margins deeply pinnately lobed, sinuses rounded, reaching 3/4 to midrib, often with 5-7 major lobes, apex acute or rounded, base truncate to subcordate, oblique, petioles 1-2 cm long.  Lower flowers perfect, upper ones staminate, actinomorphic, few to 6 in stout racemose cymes from an internodal position, lower flower sometimes solitary, peduncles short or absent, pedicels ca. 1 cm long, prickly; calyx densely prickly, the tube ca. 5 mm long, the lobes triangular, 2-3 mm long; corolla purplish blue, rotate-stellate, ca. 2 cm in diameter, the lobes acute; stamens inserted near base of corolla tube; filaments 1-2 mm long; anthers erect, tapered above, 5-6 mm long, opening by terminal pores; ovary glabrous or with a few glandular hairs, vestigial in staminate flowers; style up to 1 cm long, sparsely pubescent in lower part, vestigial in staminate flowers; stigma green, capitate.  Berries yellow at maturity, dark brown upon drying, firm, mucilaginous, globose, 2-3 cm in diameter, fruiting pedicels thickened and recurved, calyx somewhat enlarged, all parts very prickly.  Seeds numerous, pale brown, rounded or obovate, biconvex, 2-3 cm in diameter, fruiting pedicels thickened and recurved, calyx somewhat enlarged, all parts very prickly.  Seeds numerous, pale brown, rounded or obovate, biconvex, 2-3 mm long, testa minutely reticulate.  Self-compatible"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1271).

Habitat/ecology:  "Grassland, coastal beaches and scrub.  Native habitats of this plant include rocky slopes, flats, and disturbed places.  Where invasive, it forms dense thickets that crowd out native plants by competing for space, water and nutrients.  Wildlife movement is restricted and dense patches provide harbor for rabbits in Australia"  (Weber, 2003; p. 405).  "Infests dry pastures and forests, displacing other plants and hindering movement of people and animals"  (Motooka et al., 2003).

In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in dry pastures, coastal to dry shrubland and dry forest, up to 575 m"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1271).  In Fiji, "occasionally seen as a weed in waste places and along roadsides near sea level" (Smith, 1991; pp. 9-10).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Africa, now widely established in warm temperate areas, often in sub-maritime situations" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1271).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 11) "An occasional weed of wasteland". Vouchers cited: P.S. Green 1441 (A); 1898, I. Robinson (NSW); 1902, J.H. Maiden & J.L. Boorman (NSW)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 9-10) Voucher cited: Greenwood 793 (K)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1271)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaho‘olawe Island	introduced invasive	Herbarium Pacificum Staff (1998) (p. 13) Voucher cited: G. Clarke & C. Corn 414 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Lāna‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1271)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1271)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1271)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1271) Voucher cited: Heller 2409 (F. GH, MO, NY, UC)
New Caledonia Îles Loyauté (Loyalte Islands)	Île Lifou	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 132) Voucher cited: Veillon 4103 (NOU) "Naturalisé; peu commun".
New Caledonia New Caledonia	New Caledonia Islands	introduced invasive	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (p. 10)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 132) Vouchers cited: Däniker 762, MacKee 4050, MacKee 40432 "Naturalisé; peu commun".

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)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Japan Japan	Japan	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 188)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 1245) "Common in sandy coastal habitats, also in poor pastures and scrub margins".

Control: 

Physical:  "Seedlings and small plants may be hand pulled or dug out.  Larger shrubs are grubbed and heaped for burning"  (Weber, 2003; p. 405).  "Goats control apple-of-Sodom (An Peischel).  Seedlings are easily killed by cultivation or pulling"  (Motooka et al., 2003).

Chemical:  "Seedlings and young plants can be controlled with 2,4-D, older plants with amitrole, picloram or tebuthiuron"  (Weber, 2003; p. 405).  "Sensitive to foliar-applied dicamba.  Sensitive to soil-applied tebuthiuron at 2 lb/acre"  (Motooka et al., 2003).