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Nicandra physaloides

Common name:	Shoo Fly	Family:	Solanaceae
Author:	(L.)Gaertn.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	Although no mention of toxicity has been seen for this species, it belongs to a family that contains many species of poisonous plants so some caution is advised. It is normally the leaves and the unripe fruits that are most likely to be suspect, this family also includes many food plants such as potatoes, tomatoes, peppers etc.
Range:	S. America - Peru. Introduced and casual in Britain.
Habitat:	Naturalized in waste places and near dwellings in much of N. America[204].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Atropa physalodes[B,G,P] N. physalodes[B,C,CAL,DUTCH,E,G,L,P] Pentagonia physalodes[G] Physalodes physalodes[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Apple Of Peru [H,P], Apple-Of-Peru [E], Apple-of-Peru [L], Apple-of-peru [B], Shoo-fly Plant [L], Shoofly Plant [H], Zegekruid [D],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Solanales. Potato family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Malagasy; Us

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 1.2m at a fast rate. It is hardy to zone 8. It is in flower from July to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Fruit; Leaves.

Fruit[177]. No more details are given. The fruit is a berry about 15mm in diameter[200].
Young leaves - boiled[177]. Some caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Analgesic; Anthelmintic; Antibacterial; Antiinflammatory; Diuretic; Febrifuge; Mydriatic.

The plant is diuretic[240]. There is no evidence to suggest that the plant is purgative, though an alkaloid with mydriatic action is present[240].
The seeds are used in Tibetan medicine, they are said to have an acrid taste and a cooling, very poisonous potency[241]. Analgesic, anthelmintic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and febrifuge, regular use increases bodily vigour[241]. They are used in the treatment of contagious disorders, toothache, intestinal pain from worms and impotence[241]. A decoction of the seeds is used in the treatment of fevers[272].

Other Uses

Repellent.

The plant is thought to repel flies[188].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in ordinary garden soil[1], but prefers a rich well-drained soil in a sunny position[200].
Plants withstand poor weather conditions well and do not usually require staking[200].
Plants are fast-growing[188] and often self-sow freely[200].
Individual flowers only live for one day, but the plant produces a succession of flowers from summer to early autumn[188].

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ in late spring, preferably after the last expected frosts[200]. Young seedlings can be transplanted. The seed can remain dormant for several decades[200].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Nicandra physalodes (a possible synonym).

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for nicandra physaloides (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures
[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

References for the family Solanaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[204] Livingstone. B. Flora of Canada National Museums of Canada 1978 ISBN 0-660-00025-3
In 4 volumes, it does not deal with plant uses but gives descriptions and habitats.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[241] Tsarong. Tsewang. J. Tibetan Medicinal Plants Tibetan Medical Publications, India 1994 ISBN 81-900489-0-2
A nice little pocket guide to the subject with photographs of 95 species and brief comments on their uses.

Readers Comments

Useful plants of Madagascar

Rich (pfaf@scs.leeds.ac.uk) Tue Nov 16 11:22:24 1999

I've just got a lovley little book in French on the useful plants of Madegascar (Plantes utiles des hautes terres de Madagascar) by Jean-Marie Samyn. Its got descriptions, photos and uses of about 100 plants listed below. You can also see all the details online at Plantes utiles.

Abrus precatorius, Acacia dealbata, Acacia mearnsii, Agauria salicifolia, Agauria polyphylla, Ageratum conyzoides, Albizzia gummifera, Aloe capitata, Aloe todaro, Aloe macroclada, Anthocleista madagascariensis, Apholoia theaeformis, Brachylaena ramiflora, Buddleja madagascariensis, Caesalpinia sepiaria, Caesalpinia decapetala, Cassia laevigata, Cassia mimosoides, Cassia occidentalis, Catharanthus lanceus, Catharantus roseus, Centella asiatica, Clerodendrum emirnense, Clerodendrum putre, Commelina madagascarica, Crinum firmifolium, Crinum ligulatum, Crinum voyoni, Cussonia bojeri, Cynodon dactylon, Datura stramonium, Dodonae madagascariensis, Dodonae viscosa, Emilia citrina, Eugenia jambolana, Eugenia jambos, Euphorbia hirta, Euphorbia milii, Euphorbia primulaefolia, Evodia madagascariensis, Ficus baroni, Ficus apodocephala, Ficus pachyclada, Ficus roussonetiaefolia, Ficus trichosphaera, Ficus pyrifolia, Ficus melleri, Ficus soroceoides, Ficus claoxyloides, Ficus phanerophlebia, Ficus xiphocuspis, Floscopa glomerata, Gomphocarpus fruticosus, Gomphocarpus cornutus, Haronga madagascariensis, Hedychium coronarium, Helichrysum bracteiferum, Helichrysum cordifolium, Helichrysum gymnocephalum, Kalanchoe laxiflora, Kalanchoe prolifera, Kaliphora madagascariensis, Lantana camara, Leonotis nepetaefolia, Maesa lanceolata, Melia azedarach, Mimosa latispinosa, Mimosa pudica, Mussaenda arcuata, Nicandra physaloides, Pavonia urens, Phyllarthron madagascariense, Physalis peruviana, Phytolacca dodecandra, Psiadia altissima, Psorospermum androsacemifolium, Ricinus communis, Senecio faujasioides, Senecio longiscapus, Sida rhombifolia, Siegesbeckia orientalis, Solanum mauritianum, Solanum nigrum, Tachiadenus longiflorus, Trema orientalis, Trema affinis, Trema cummersonii, Trema grevei, Trema grisea, Trema guineensis, Trema treme, Trema velutina, Uapaca bojeri, Urena lobata, Vernonia appendiculata.

Details of Growing Condition: Madagascar.

Cross references: Plants: Caesalprina decapetala, Euphorbia hirta, Centella asiatica, Ageratum conyzoides, Siegesbeckia orientalis pubescens, Ricinus communis, Melia azedarach, Pyrus pyrifolia, Dodonea viscosa, Physalis peruviana, Hedychium coronarium.

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Nicandra+physaloides
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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.