Solanum centrale
Solanum centrale
Solanum centrale is an Australia-based plant of the genus Solanum (Solanum ). Within the genus, the species is classified in the subgenus Leptostemonum. A specially developed root system, the plant is able to quickly expel after bushfires and also enter into a symbiosis with mycorrhizal fungi in order to obtain sufficient and austere locations nutrients. The fruit of the plant is used by Australian Aborigines as a food.
- 6.1 Notes and references
- 6.2 Main sources
Description
Vegetative characteristics
Solanum centrale is a 0.2 to 0.4 m tall herbaceous plant. The stems are yellow, rust-colored or brown in color and very densely hairy with stellate, nichtdrüsigen trichomes, as well as occupied with straight, needle-shaped and 4-7 mm long spines. Per 10 cm up to two spines can thereby stand.
The sympodial units have two leaves that are not in pairs. The leaf blades are easy, 2.8 to 8.5 cm long and 1.1 to 4.2 mm wide and well 2 to 2.5 times as long as wide. They are ovate and papery. The base is wedge-shaped to heart-shaped, the leaf margin is entire, the tip is pointed or blunt. The top is thickly to very thickly with gray-green to green, nichtdrüsigen, stellate trichomes, the underside is staffed very tightly with white, yellow or rust-colored, nichtdrüsigen, stellate trichomes. The petioles are 0.8 to 2.6 cm long and thus achieve 17 to 40 % of the length of the leaf blades. Also, they are very dense hairy with stellate trichomes. Spines are not present on the leaves.
The plants form large Klonkolonien that spread fire resistance, underground parts of plants, from which sprout usually groups of two or more new sprouts. The plants are quickly re expel in a position after the first rains that follow bushfires. The original, germinated from a seed plant forms a thick taproot, extending from the more lateral roots. More roots downward Occasionally, at locations where the lateral roots develop new shoots formed, which, however, do not develop a taproot. Secondary roots are pronounced only sparsely along the lateral roots, they are very fine and brittle.
Inflorescences and flowers
The inflorescences are outside the leaf axils, are 0.5 to 6 cm long, and consist of one to six flowers. You are unbranched and pseudo- cluster-like, their coat consists of very dense, stellate trichomes, spines are not present. The peduncle is from 0 to 2.3 cm long; the inflorescence axis from 0.5 to 1.5 (rarely to 4) cm; the flower stems reach the heyday of lengths from 5 to 7 mm, and in the fruit they extend to about 15 mm.
The flowers are hermaphrodite fünfzählig and appear. The cup reaches a length of 3 to 6 mm, wherein the corolla tube is 2 to 4 mm long. The Corolla lobe are 1-4 mm long and are beaked and staffed very tightly with brown or rust-colored, nichtdrüsigen, stellate trichomes. The calyx increased only slightly by its fruit, the calyx lobes are then about half as long as the ripe fruit. The crown is 10 to 13 mm long, violet colored, star-shaped or lobed weak with narrow triangular lobes, like paper and on the inside sparsely to densely covered with stellate trichomes. The anthers are yellow colored, 4.3 to 6.2 mm long, lanceolate and not inclined together. They open over fine, outward pores. The ovary is glabrous or only open at the top with star-shaped trichomes. The cylindrical stylus is straight or slightly curved, glabrous or only staffed at the base with stellate trichomes. The scar is cut off or capitate.
Fruit and seeds
A hairless to four berries are formed per inflorescence, which takes about two to three months to mature and ripen between November and the beginning of winter. They are spherical, 1 to 1.5 cm in size, initially clay-colored - green, later yellowish brown and finally dry up, so that they resemble raisins. In studies seeds were counted in fruits of Solanum centrale 17-94, the agent was 54 seeds. They are usually 3 (rarely 2-4 ) mm long, pale or light brown and slightly wavy on the surface.
Occurrences and locations
The species is often widely used to refer to the southern part of the Northern Territory in Australia as well as in the neighboring areas of South Australia and Western Australia and in Queensland it is only very limited before.
It grows in dry, sandy desert areas, usually with less than 250 mm of rainfall per year. In winter, temperatures can drop below freezing, while summer can also be reached 45 ° C. The plants prefer light to medium soils and are usually in sandy spinifex grasslands, found on dunes and adjacent mulga areas.
Ecology
Plants of Solanum centrale benefit from a symbiosis with mycorrhizal fungi occurring in the soil, but can also survive without these. Fungi promote the absorption of phosphate from the ground, however, result in the possibility of a change in plant morphology. Causes of these changes may be in addition to the increased nutrient uptake and effects of the fungi on plant hormones.
System
Solanum centrale is classified within the genus of the nightshade (Solanum ) in the subgenus Leptostemonum. On the basis of morphological characteristics can be the way in which group Solanum macoorai lane, a molecular investigation of the kinship relations of the kind so far (March 2007 ) does not occur.
Use
Solanum centrale was among one of the staple food of the Aborigines in Central Australia. In Warlpiri, the fruit is called yakatjiri, sometimes the term is kamparrarpa from the language of Pintupi used. In English, the fruit is known as bush tomato bush or raisin.
The drying of the plant fruits were eaten raw, dried sticks or crushed and pressed into balls or disks. These disks measure reportedly up to 25.4 cm in diameter and weigh up to 1.59 kilograms. Unlike other Australian solanaceous species, such as Solanum chippendalei that were eaten by the Aborigines, in Solanum centrale no removal bitter or poisonous seeds or juices is necessary.
Studies on the constituents of the dried fruit gave the following results (per 100 g):
The modern use of Solanum centrale is mainly to use as a spice, is offered the fruit to mostly as a fine or coarse powder, as well as whole fruit. In addition, the fruit is a component of various spice mixtures and is used as an ingredient in commercially offered sauces, chutneys, breads and pastries.
A large part of the demand is met by the harvesting of wild plants, but this can not fully meet the growing demand. Of the annually about 8 to 10 tons of traded fruits about 2 tons of cultivated plants are recovered. Through hard germinating seeds and high demands on the sites, the culture is considered difficult. Cultivars are not yet known, but several providers deal with the selection of better cultivable plants. The growing areas are in different regions of Central Australia's and the mid north of South Australia, to a lesser extent in the western South Australia and New South Wales at the western slopes.