Solanum pachyandrum
Solanum pachyandrum, known as , is a spine-forming vine of the "Solanum" genus (which contains over 1,000 species). It is native to southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Peru where the large juicy fruit is commonly eaten and considered a treat by children. Although the plant has been known and consumed by the indigenous people of that land, it was only published scientifically in 1914 by German botanist Friedrich August Georg Bitter. Description. Bombona is a woody to subwoody vine growing 5+ m long that flowers from April to September in its native range in Ecuador and Peru. It  differs from other related species by the presence of prickles on its pedicels (the stalks of individual flowers) and its ellipsoid, non-tapering anthers. It's often said to be spiny, but is actually prickly since the spinose structures are not derived from leaves and lack vascular bundles inside, allowing them to more easily be removed. The prickles are long, stout, and recurved (curved downwards). Stems are in diameter and are (without hairs) and long. Sympodial units plurifoliate (having many leaves or inflorescences) and do not geminate. Leaves are pinnatifid (so deeply lobed as to appear pinnation) with four to  six pairs of lobes. The leaf blades in outline are in length and in width. They are oblong and around twice as long as they are wide. Their texture is chartaceous (meaning they have a papery texture) and are glabrous on both surfaces. The midrib has recurved prickles and there are four to six major lateral veins on each side of the midrib that correspond to the lobes. Fruits are globose berries that are in diameter with a glabrous pericarp. They are purple when immature and turn yellow-orange once mature. Seeds are about . They are light brown in color , strongly flattened, and the surfaces are minutely pitted. The testal cells of the seeds are rectangular. Taxonomy. Phylogenetic studies suggest it is likely part of a sister group to the rest of the prickly species belonging to the subgenus "Leptostemonum" called "S". sect. "Aculeigerum". Unlike most prickly species of "Solanum", these species lack stellate hairs and are characterized by plurifoliate sympodial units, branched inflorescences, presence of prickles coupled with absence of stellate trichomes, and a vine-like habit. The "Solanum" section "Aculeigerum" contains these eight species, all ranging in distribution from Mexico and Central America to Ecuador and Peru: "S.  pachyandrum" is differentiated from "S. refractum" by its white flowers and wider anthers and both are differentiated from the rest of the species by the fact that all filaments within a flower are of equal length.