03 - LOBEIRA Solanum lycocarpum A.St.-Hil. (SOLANACEAE)
03 - Lobeira - Solanum lycocarpum A.St.-Hil. (SOLANACEAE)
Perennial, shrub or arboreal plant, from 0.50 m to 3.5 m in height, branched, with tortuous stems, covered with thorns. Simple, alternating leaves, of various shapes, from oval to lanceolate, wavy, slightly whitish on the lower surface, with the presence of spines on the central rib of the leaf. Flowers similar to those of eggplant, of intense violet color, with yellow center, with five petals, occurring at the tip of the branches. Berry type fruit, up to 10 cm in diameter, rounded and greenish in color, covered with hairiness, similar to a large jiló.
It is to be thought that, if this plant existed here, the maned wolf, its most famous disperser, should be a typical representative of São Paulo's fauna. The wolf not only feeds on the fruit, it is dependent on its consumption as a vermifuge, protecting its kidneys against a type of worm that frequently affects them. Without the fruit, most of these wolves would die.
Distribution: From Bahia to Paraná, in Atlantic Forest, Cerrado and anthropized areas.
Situation in São Paulo: It occurs in the Parque Estadual do Juquery, in Franco da Rocha, and in surrounding areas, being very rare to find it in fragments within the urban area.
How to plant: We introduced a seedling cultivated by Lucio Tamino in Praça da Nascente, a great observer of nature who simply removed the seed from the fruit pulp and planted it in a pot with red soil. The seeds can be washed, dried in the sun and stored for up to a year, in this case when planting, sand the husk on one side of the seed, so that it absorbs water better and overcomes dormancy. With a year and approximately 50 cm, you can go to the final place, always in full sun.
Uses: Of the solanaceae occurring in the Cerrado, it is one of the plants with the greatest fruit, used in human consumption, but much appreciated by the fauna, especially by wolves, which gives rise to its popular and scientific name.
ALMEIDA, SP ET AL. CERRADO: USEFUL VEGETABLE SPECIES. PLANALTINA: EMBRAPA-CPAC, V. 464, 1998.
DURIGAN, G. PLANTS OF THE CERRADO PAULISTA: IMAGES OF A THREATENED LANDSCAPE. PÁGINAS & LETRAS EDITORA E GRÁFICA, 2004.
LAVRAS, MG FLORAL BIOLOGY OF A POPULATION OF SOLANUM LYCOCARPUM ST. HIL. (SOLANACEAE) IN. REVTA. BRAZIL. BOT, V. 11, P. 23-32, 1988.
Today's periphery is tomorrow's center. The city keeps growing and the Lobeiras are being pushed away.
Lúcio, tem uma grande sensibilidade com plantas, mora numa casa rodeado delas, e é um observador atento.
Ele conseguiu uma fruta do lobo, retirou sementes e fez algumas mudas, que passaram a fazer parte do contorno da trilha infinita.
A conversa com Lúcio sempre é interessante. No começo apenas eu e ele conseguimos apreciar a estética da lobeira com seus espinhos. Realmente não é uma planta "bonita", apesar das flores roxas, os espinhos afastam. Mas o interessante numa planta vai muito além das flores coloridas. Os espinhos também são bonitos.
Infelizmente alguém não gostou delas, tempos depois foram destruídas, uma prática aleatória, que se mantém desde o inicio do projeto. Depois de alguns anos, conseguimos desenvolver. algumas mudas, aparentemente foram assimiladas pelas pessoas. Inclusive sei de algumas que aguardam ansiosas os frutos!
Exemplar bem desenvolvido no Cerrado Infinito das Nascentes.