WILD TOMATO / ROUND-LEAVED SOLANUM (Solanum orbiculatum) Seeds

Wild Tomato, also known as Round-leaved Solanum (Solanum orbiculatum) is a soft small rounded compact shrub that grows to 1–1.5m. 
  
It has yellow-green rounded leaves,  the leaves and young stems have a light covering of fine tiny hairs, which make it look silvery or rusty.

The fruit are round and approximately 1 cm in diameter, marbled green and turning ivory-cream, then brown why dry. Mainly fruiting in the early summer. This fruit is bitter.

Occurs naturally in Spinifex sandplains, sandhills and dunes of Central Australia, also in the rocky sites of the ranges in crossing the NT border into Western Australia, also in parts of South Australia.

Berries usually appear in summer and/or autumn

Bush food: Fresh fruit is an important ‘bush tucker’ source for local indigenous people.

Germination: Studies for mine regeneration or the native food industry indicated that germination of seed of this species is promoted with gibberellic acid, smoke water or the smoke isolate, karrikinolide.

** Warning - A number of solanum species contain significant levels of solanine and as such are highly poisonous. It is strongly recommended that people unfamiliar with the plant do not experiment with the different species, as differentiating between them can often be difficult