Scientific Name: Lycianthes rantonnetii
Common Name: blue potato bush
Family Name: Solanaceae
Origin: South America
Hardiness Zone: Zone 7: (-18 to -12 °C)
Plant Type: Annual (grown as), Herbaceous perennial
Mature Size: 1.3 - 2.0m x 0.6 - 1.0m (height x width)
Habit: Arching
Form: Oval - vertical
Texture: Medium
Landscape Uses: Bedding plant, Container planting, Summer interest
Exposure: Full sun
Soil or Media: Humus rich
Leaves: Simple, Alternate, Soft flexible, Pinnate venation, Pubescent, Elliptic, Ovate, Dentate, Pinnately lobed, Sinuate
Flowers: White, Yellow, Blue, Violet, Purple, May-Jun-Jul-Aug-Sep
Fruit: Berry (true), Red, Sep-Oct
Key ID Features:
Leaves elliptic, blades 3-6(-10)cm long x 2-5cm wide, margin entire, base cuneate, apex acute or acuminate; petiole 0.5-1.5cm long, winged in upper part by extension of lamina base; flowers funnelform, 2-3cm wide, axillary, singluar or in clusters of 2-5, pedicels 15-25mm long, calyx 4-5mm long, most bluish with yellow centres; berries red-black, 1-2cm wide.