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Solanum mauritianum

Image: woolly nightshade  (Solanum mauritianum).

Project overview

Woolly nightshade (Solanum mauritianum) is native to Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and southern Brazil, and naturalised widely in several Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceanic islands, India and southern African countries. In New Zealand it is a major weed in the North Island but does occur as low as the north of the South Island.

One biocontrol agent has been released, so far, to attack woolly nightshade. The woolly nightshade lace bug (Gargaphia decoris) was first released In 2010, in a forestry block in Tauranga, Waikato, Taranaki, Northland, Manawatu, Wanganui, and at other sites in the Bay of Plenty.