Solanum ligustrinum
- Subject: Solanum ligustrinum
- From: "Tim Longville" t*@BTinternet.com
- Date: Sun, 8 Sep 2002 20:45:09 +0100
Does anyone here know the exact status of this as a
name/plant? Is it simply a synonym for S. crispum or are there subtle
differences? Internet info doesn't seem altogether clear to this
non-taxonomist.
I'm growing some from seed from a friend under that
name. So far the seedlings do look rather different from what I remember of
'standard' S. crispum seedlings but whether the differences are
'significant'...
And also on the subject of solanums and indeed of
S. crispum:
I knew solanums are 'poisonous' (though the poisons
are of the sort which can be used for hallucinogenic and more or less medical
purposes as well as, at greater strengths or from certain particular
species, for deadly ones) but I didn't realise mere contact could
cause quite powerful allergic reactions. I thought the poison was essentially in
the fruit. Wrong, presumably...
Does anyone on the list know
anything (personal or book-larnin') about allergic reaction from contact
with a solanum?
I've grown a good many solanum spp over a good
many years and never had that sort of reaction. Until recently. But I
certainly havenow.
A S. crispum had got tangled up with a sophora and
a pineapple broom and become so top-heavy all three had come away from their
host wall. To get the other two re-pinioned I had to get up close and personal
with the solanum, pinning it out of the way with arms and legs
while I used my hands to tie in the kowhai and the broom. I was wearing a heavy
shirt and heavy jeans but even so next day I came up in egg-sized blisters
down the insides of both arms and both legs and in deep red welts where I didn't
actually blister.
That was a month ago and though the blisters have
gone and the welts are fading it's still obvious where the reactions were. I
didn't feel 'ill' or anything - but I certainly wasn't a pretty sight for a
while. And needless to say the comments by my nearest and dearest were both
unrepeatable and unsympathetic...
Tim
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