Solanum quitoense Lam., Solanaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 11 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

English: naranjilla

French: morelle de Quito, naranjille, orange de Quito

Spanish: lulo, naranjilla

Habit:  shrub

Description:  "Robust shrub 1-2 m high, the young branches terete, stout, succulent, becoming soft-woody with age; stems, inflorescences, calyces and corollas densely stellate-pilose, rays per hair few; leaves angular or regularly sinuate-lobate, generally ovate, 27-34 cm long, 20-24 cm wide, petioles 5-8 cm long, apices acute, bases cordate, stellate-pubescent above and below; inflorescences cymose, lateral, very short-pedunculate, about 2.5 cm long, few-flowered; pedicels 3-10 mm long, densely purple-stellate-pilose; flower buds orbicular to obovoid, 12-14 mm long; calyx lobed half to two-thirds the way to base, the ovate-lanceolate lobes thick, acute, pubescent within only near tip; corolla barely exserted from calyx at anthesis, thick, white, about 2 cm across; anthers attenuate, with small apical pores, 7-8 mm long; ovary tomentose, the rays of hairs long, septate; style glabrous or sparsely pubescent; fruit about 5 cm in diameter, orange-colored when ripe, pubescence deciduous; seeds about 4 mm in diameter"  (Wiggins & Porter, 1971; pp. 480-481).

Habitat/ecology:  In the Galápagos Islands, "occasional along trails in the Miconia Zone (Isla Santa Cruz) and on southeast side of main crater (San Salvador [Santiago]), almost certainly introduced by settlers" (Wiggins & Porter, 1971; pp. 480-481).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Colombia, Ecuador and Peru (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Floreana Group	Floreana Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santiago Group	Santiago Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Fatu Hiva Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013) Cultivée
French Polynesia Marquesas Islands	Nuku Hiva (Nukahiva) Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013) Cultivée
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island		Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 143) S. quitense [sic]
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced cultivated	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2013) Cultivée
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island		Wagner, W. L./ Herbst, D. R./Weitzman, A./Lorence, D.H. (2013)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Colombia	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
South America (Pacific rim) South America (Pacific rim)	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Control:  If you know of control methods for Solanum quitoense, please let us know.