The vernacular name for Solanum Topiro in Peru is 
reported to be cocona. This is borne out by notes on her- 
barium specimens (Aillip & Smith 273607, 27323) collected 
inthe Amazonian part of Peru in 1929. This convenient 
epithet followed the plant in its several introductions and 
has now, in the literature, been accepted as a standard 
common name. Unfortunately, however, cocona has been 
erroneously identified and has, in agricultural institutions 
as well as in the scientific and popular literature (Iennell, 
loc. cit.; “‘Cocona™” (abstract of foregoing article) in 
Keon. Bot. 8 (1949) 216; Ochse, loc. cit. : [ Bischoff, 
William] ‘'Phe Peach Tomato” in Miami Daily News 
(March 7, 1954) ) been determined as Solanum hypor- 
hodium A. Br. et Bouche. 
It has not been possible for me to ascertain where this 
erroneous identification was made, nor do | find in any 
of our larger herbaria a specimen-voucher upon which it 
could have been based. In the card-file at the Subtropical 
kxperiment Station in Homestead, Florida, the follow- 
ing data relative to cocona are to be found: **Solanwm 
hyporhodium A. Br. & Bouché. Native to Australia. In 
1948, seeds were received from F. B. Harrington, Natal: 
all plants dead by 1950 from nematodes. ° 
That there must have been a sudden and widespread 
distribution of seeds of this species is evidenced by the 
fact that the Subtropical Experiment Station, believing 
the plant to be native to the Old World, made an in- 
troduction trom South Africa. Ochse (loc. cit.) brought 
the species into cultivation at the University of Miami 
apparently directly from Costa Rica. In July, 1958, 1 
found it growing experimentally at the Imperial College 
of ‘Tropical Agriculture in Trinidad, the result of a rel- 
atively recent introduction but with no record of the 
provenience of the seed. 
Identification of the material of Solanum Topiro which 
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