PlantFiles: Lanceleaf Nightshade, Kangaroo Apple, Orange-berry Nightshade
Solanum lanceolatum

PLEASE be careful of this plant if you are pregnant.
Australian aborigionals use this plant,(fruit if available or sap if not), to abort unwanted pregnancies.

The first time I grew this plant, I purchased it as a seedling and I loved it. No special care required other than daily watering if there's no rain. I'm in northern Alberta, and as long as there's sunshine, this plant will florish. The next year I started the plant from seeds, and I can only say that the seeds take an unusually long time to germinate. I did have a few seeds up after 5 days but the majority were 2 - 4 weeks. This plant is huge and gets the gardening conversation going. In my zone, it's only an annual.

I have been growing this plant since earlier this year and find that it loves growing here in northern california, amongst the redwoods. It doesnt seem to like the sun,grows well with just indirect light. It has fruit all over it right now,turning yellowish orange and starting to fall off. I would so love to know if I can eat them at this stage or not or if I should just leave them alone hearing that they are of the nightshade family. I have cuttings that I am replanting as they only live about five years.

Grows well in full sun to parrt shade in zone 5a/b. Can get aphids if plant doesn't get enough air space, but nothing a garden hose and a windy day can't resolve. Easy to grow from seed.

Fast growing tropical looking shrub that reseeds in the watered yard.Gets gangly and ugly if not pruned to shape.
Kennedys second picture isn't S. lanceolatum,but S. lanciniatum.

We've grown it every year for about five years. We collect the seed from the pods (fruits) and let them dry a bit. They give a nice tropical look when placed in containers or next to caster beans and cannas. They do like a lot of water and get ugly very quickly when they wilt.

I bought it at the Montreal Botanical Garden in May, was about 1 foot tall, now at the end of July it is 3 feet tall, and in full bloom, with a lot of "green" fruits. Can be propagated by cuttings of half-ripe wood at the end of August, or by collecting the seeds when the fruits turn yellow.
Not hardy enough to survive our winters, but I will do anything to save it for next spring. It is very lovely and fast growing.

This plant is also known as Kangaroo Apple. Apple because of the edible fruit. Kangaroo, because the intermediate leaf, can resemble a kangaroo's footprint, having a single leaflet on one side of the main leaf.