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Solanum torvum Sw.

Synonym	:	Solanum ficifolium Ortega
Family	:	Solanaceae
Local name	:	English- Wild Eggplant Malayalam -  Chunda
Flowering and fruiting period	:	August - October
Distribution	:	Throughout the tropics
Distribution in Kerala	:	All Districts
Habitat	:	Degraded forest areas and also in the plains
Uses	:	The juice of the plant is used to treat fevers, coughs, asthma, chest ailments, sore throats, rheumatism, dropsy, stomach aches and gonorrhoea. The juice of the flowers, with salt added, is used as eye drops. The leaves are an effective antimicrobial and diuretic. An infusion is used as a treatment for thrush. The leaves are dried and ground to powder, this is used as a medicine for diabetic patients. The leaves are applied topically to treat cuts, wounds and skin diseases. A syrup prepared from the leaves and flowers is used as a treatment for colds.
Key botanical characters: Solanum torvum is an erect or spreading prickly shrub, 1 to 3 m tall. It reproduces solely by seed. The root system consists of a deep and strong, woody taproot with numerous woody laterals. The one to several soft-wooded stems are branched above, densely covered with fine stellate hairs and are scattered with broad-based, hooked prickles, 3 to 7 mm long. The stems are initially green becoming brown as they mature. The leaves occur singly along the stems and are broadly ovate and 5-20 cm long, usually with seven broad, blunt lobes. Both surfaces are covered with very fine stellate hairs and have scattered prickles along the main veins. The upper surface is darker than the lower. The leaves have finely hairy petioles, 1 to 5 cm long, and vary considerably in shape and size depending on genetic origin and plant vigour. The inflorescence is a dense, compact, branched head consisting of 50-100 flowers at the ends of branches. These occur laterally (between two leaves) as the stems elongate. Each flower has five slender finely hairy sepals 2 to 3 mm long, five white to cream star-shaped petals each about 1 cm long, five elongate yellow stamens and a central stigma. The fruits are globular berries 1-1.5 cm across, at first green and scurfy but ripening to dull yellow and containing few to many flat, woody, often reddish seeds, 1.5 to 2 mm long.