Solanum ligustrinum


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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