Solanum linearifolium
22nd August 2010
If I have the identification right, this comes originally from new South Wales and Victoria in Australia.
I am not quite sure how it came to me. A couple of years ago a strange seedling came up in a pot.
This is the second generation that has come up by accident (and I have given it away, so I may not see another).
It makes a rather ungainly shrub that would probably be killed in cold winters, though it may regenerate from the roots.
Solanum laciniatum is very similar. Many years ago my accountant grew some seed on her windowsill and
gave one to me. Vigorous, purple, poisonous, I grew it for a year or two and exhausted my interest though I have seen
it growing well in the south east, where it enjoys reliably warm summers.