A FORAGE PLANT FROM 



THE SOLANACEAE FAMILY 



A Plant That When Young Is Very Similar to Tobacco and Much Appre- 

 ciated by Horses in Brazil 



Benjaaiin Harris Hunnicutt, M.S.A. 

 Director of the Lavras Agricultural School, Layras, Brazil 



L 



OOKING through the books on 

 forage plants under common cul- 

 tivation none are to be found be- 

 longing to the genus Solanum, 

 nor to any other subdivisions of the 

 Solanaceae family. The following notes 

 on the Solanum bullatum, a promising 

 forage plant of this family found wild 

 in many parts of Brazil, are made from 

 the standpoint of the agronomist and 

 not so much of the botanist. Some time 

 ago our attention was called to this 

 plant by the articles in the Brazilian 

 papers by the botanist, Dr. Alvaro A. 

 da Silveira, whose work with little 

 known plants suitable for forage pur- 

 pose has been notable. 



This plant has many common names 

 in Brazil, differing in each state. In 

 Minas it is called capocira hranca 

 (white bush) and fritcta de pomha 

 (dove fruit). The first name is given 

 on account of the whitish tinge of the 

 leaves, especially as the plant gets older 

 and grows into a small tree. The second 

 name is given to it because the wild 

 doves are very fond of the fruits ; in- 

 deed, it is very hard to get seeds of the 

 plant because the birds pick them be- 

 fore they are ripe. In Sao Paulo the 

 common name is cnvetinga, which is 

 probably the native or Indian name for 

 it. In the State of Rio de Janeiro it is 

 called fumeiro, or tobacco plant, be- 

 cause as a young plant it is very similar 

 to the tobacco plant. It is also found in 

 the State of Parana and possibly in 

 other states. 



As a young plant it grows up as a 

 bush with a number of stems coming 

 up from the ground, but when older it 



is often found with only one trunk. 

 Where it grows isolated it spreads quite 

 widely (see Fig. 15), but when grow- 

 ing in very rich ground and along with 

 other plants it reaches a height of 15 

 to 20 feet. 



After a forest is cut off and the land 

 turned over, among the first plants to 

 appear is the Solanum. bullatum, and its 

 usefulness as a forage plant came to be 

 noticed in that way. As soon as fresh 

 land is cleared it is planted to corn. 

 When the corn crop is harvested the 

 cattle are turned in to eat off the stalks, 

 and as this plant is generally to be 

 found it was noticeable to what extent 

 the cattle sought after it. When riding 

 over our land it was often noticed that 

 a horse would leave the road to try to 

 get a nibble at this plant. One horse we 

 owned could safely be ridden through 

 a cornfield without his biting the corn, 

 but it was difiicult to get him past one 

 of these plants without getting his 

 mouth full. So far as we know no toxic 

 effects have been observed from cattle 

 or horses eating this plant. We were 

 informed that, while it was not injuri- 

 ous to horses, it was poisonous to cattle, 

 but this information is incorrect, for 

 cattle are just as fond of it as horses 

 and no ill effects are noticeable with 

 either. 



If it should be cultivated it would 

 have to be planted close enough to- 

 gether in the rows to be utilized before 

 it got too big or woody. It is perennial, 

 but as a forage plant would have to be 

 used as an annual. It will sprout from 

 a cut trunk, but this would probably 

 not prove to be of advantage agri- 



185 



