Solanum crinitum

{{Short description|Species of tropical tree}} {{Speciesbox | genus = Solanum | species = crinitum | authority = Lam. }} thumb|Solanum macranthum 3 thumb|Solanum macranthum 23 '''''Solanum crinitum''''', syn. ''Solanum macranthum'', common name '''giant star potato tree''', is a small tropical tree belonging to the family Solanaceae, growing to {{cvt|12|m}} tall, native to the northeastern half of South America.<ref name="POWO">{{cite POWO |title=''Solanum crinitum'' Lam. |id=818843-1 |access-date=2025-06-30}}</ref>

Its flowers continue to grow bigger even after they open, doubling in size, and eventually becoming {{cvt|5|cm}} wide. Simultaneously with this, the flowers also change color, opening purple and becoming white.<ref>{{ cite book | last1= Kuck |first1= Loraine E. | last2= Tongg | first2= Richard C. | date= 1960 | title= Hawaiian Flowers and Flowering Trees - A Guide to Tropical and Semitropical Flora | location= Rutland, Vermont | publisher= Charles E. Tuttle Co. | page= 32}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Populist gardening text, not covering the species' native area and variation|date=June 2025}} It is very short-lived for a tree-sized plant, being full-grown at age four, and often dead by its fifth year.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Pertchik | first1= Bernard and Harriet (illustrations) | last2= Knapp | first2= Paul (text) | date= 1951 | title= Flowering Trees of the Caribbean | location= New York | publisher= Reinhard and Co. Inc | page= 21 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last= Morton | first= Julia F. | date= 1971 | title= Exotic Plants | location= New York | publisher= Golden Press | page= 131 }}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Populist gardening text, not scientific data|date=June 2025}} If pollinated, the flowers produce a round, orange fruit about {{cvt|5|cm}} diameter. The 5- to 7-lobed leaves are about {{cvt|40|cm}} long and about half as wide.

==References== {{Reflist}}

crinitum