Family: Solanaceae
Origin, Description & Uses
Solanum lasiocarpum (hairy eggplant, hairy nightshade) is native to tropical and subtropical Asia, where it has long been cultivated and occasionally managed as a semi-wild food plant. It is a spiny, soft-wooded shrub in the nightshade family (Solanaceae), typically bearing large, hairy leaves and distinctive round to egg-shaped fruits that may be green, yellow, or orange when ripe. In parts of Southeast Asia, the fruits are eaten cooked in curries, soups, and sauces, and the plant is sometimes grown in home gardens for its edible fruit and traditional medicinal uses.
Risks & Threats
Although Solanum lasiocarpum is currently not known to be naturalized in the Hawaiian Islands, it possesses traits that are cause for concern. Like other members of the nightshade family, it can produce abundant seed, tolerate disturbed habitats, and potentially spread beyond cultivation if conditions are favorable. Its spiny stems and ability to form dense shrubs may allow it to compete with and displace low-growing vegetation, particularly in disturbed tropical areas. Some plant parts may also contain toxic compounds typical of Solanaceae, posing additional ecological considerations. Given these traits, it could detrimentally impact tropical island ecosystems if it were to escape cultivation. When available, choosing a low-risk or native alternative is recommended to help protect Hawaiʻi’s ecosystems.
High Risk Traits:
- Elevation range exceeds 1000 m, demonstrating environmental versatility
- Grows in tropical climates
- Widely introduced and naturalized throughout the Pacific
- Reported as a weed of disturbed areas (impacts generally unspecified)
- Other Solanum species have become invasive
- Forms with prickles exist
- Alternate host of fruit flies in the genus Bactrocera
- Shade-tolerant
- Tolerates many soil types
- Reproduces by seed
- Self-fertile
- Able to reach maturity in <1 growing season
- Seeds dispersed by birds and intentionally by people
Low Risk Traits:
- Despite reports of weediness, negative impacts are not documented
- Unarmed forms exist
- Fruits edible and used medicinally
- Not reported to spread vegetatively
- Herbicides are effective at controlling other weedy Solanum species
