Habit : An annual erect, rhizomatous herb with stem and branches viscid, hairy and armed with flat, orange-yellow spines.
Leaves : Very prickly, sticky, ovate to lanceolate, petiolate, pubescent both above and below with stellate and glandular hairs, pinnately divided into 4-6 coarse lobes.
Inflorescence : Racemes
Flowers :
White, light blue or mauve coloured with hairy calyx.
Erect, converging anthers and ovary is puberulent with a style.
Fruit : Red, succulent, globular berries with pale yellow seeds.
Flowering and Fruiting Time : November - January
Significance :
It can be used as a hedge plant to keep animals out of a garden because it is covered with prickles.
It is best known for its use as a trap crop for potato cyst nematodes.
The fruit is also a source of solasodine, a glycoalkaloid used in the synthesis of corticosteroids and sex hormones, and a large component of oral contraceptives.
