Bush tomato

The term bush tomato refers to the fruit or entire plants of certain nightshade ("Solanum") species native to the more arid parts of Australia. While they are quite closely related to tomatoes ("Solanum lycopersicum"), they might be even closer relatives of the eggplant ("S. melongena"), which they resemble in many details.

Bush tomato plants are small fast-growing shrubs that fruit prolifically the year after fire or good rains. The fruit have been used as food sources by Central Australian Aboriginal people for many thousands of years. They have a very strong flavor and scent when ripe and fresh, so that one can actually smell a richly fruiting specimen from quite a distance.

There are four "Solanum" species usually called "bush tomatoes", and along with two others they are the only known edible "Solanum" native to in Australia, where over 100 inedible or even poisonous species are also found:
* "Solanum centrale", also known as Desert Raisin, Bush Raisin or Bush Sultana, or by the native name "kutjera"
* "Solanum cleistogamum"
* "Solanum ellipticum", also known as Potato Bush
* "Solanum quadriloculatum", sometimes included in "S. ellipticum" but usually treated as good species

Aborigines eat them raw or put them on the hot earth by the fire, sprinkle some water on them and cover them up to cook them. Mardu people would skewer them and dry them so the food was readily transportable. In Mardu they are known as "wamurla", while the Warlpiri call them "wanakiji".

In the Central Australian language of Arrernte, the species are distinguished. "S. ellipticum" and/or "S. quadriloculatum" are called "merne awele-awele", "S. cleistogamum" is "merne mwanyerne", and "S. centrale" is "merne akatyerre". The Arrernte term "merne" means "fruit or nut".