HOW-TO

Plant primer: Porcupine tomato

Staff Writer

The Columbus Dispatch

Height: 18 to 24 inches

Spread: 15 to 20 inches

Hardiness: Zones 9 to 11

Origin: Madagascar

The porcupine tomato (Solanum pyracanthum) is a scary but beautiful plant. Despite its name, it is only a distant relative of the tomato and is poisonous.

The 5- to 6-inch-long leaves are dark gray-green and deeply lobed. Brilliant orange thorns grow abundantly on the stems and leaf veins. The 1-inch star-shaped flowers have violet petals with contrasting yellow anthers. The plant produces small yellow fruits, but even birds don’t eat them.

The porcupine tomato is easy to grow as a potted plant for the patio or as a houseplant. A caged porcupine tomato can be seen as part of the “Scary Plants” exhibit at the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.

— Barbara Arnold,Franklin Park Conservatoryand Botanical Gardens