Solanum atropurpureum

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Solanum atropurpureum is a perennial shrub native to Brazil. It is commonly known as malevolence, purple devil, or the five-minute plant. The plant grows about 1.2 to 1.8 meters tall and 0.9 to 1.2 meters wide. Its leaves are oval and 5 to 10 cm long. It flowers from late spring to mid-summer with yellow to white blooms and produces small orange fruit about 1 to 2 cm wide.

The fruit’s juice can irritate the skin, so wear gloves when handling. The plant is short-lived, typically lasting 3 to 5 years. It has purple stems that are densely covered with purple and green thorns about 2 cm long, a feature from which its common names come. The plant is often grown as an ornamental, preferring full sun and modest watering. It tolerates a wide range of soils and can survive brief cold down to about −10 °C.

You can propagate it from seeds harvested from the fruit or from stem cuttings, which root in about 10 to 20 days. Solanum atropurpureum contains toxic tropane alkaloids in its fruit, stems, and leaves, so it should not be eaten. It has also been noted as a natural reservoir of potato virus X.