Erubia :: Solanum ensifolium

Bad at Goodbyes :: Episode 060

On today’s show we learn about the Erubia, a critically endangered flowering shrub native to the US island territory of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Sea.

• (00:05) Intro
• (02:05) Species Information
• (19:24) Citations
• (21:02) Music
• (26:42) Pledge

For more information about conservation in Puerto Rico, please visit Para la Naturaleza at https://paralanaturaleza.org

Research for today’s show was compiled from:

• Eastern Connecticut State University – https://www.easternct.edu/news/_stories-and-releases/2025/01-january/easterns-greenhouse-is-a-sanctuary-for-imperiled-plants.html
• Gann, G.D. 2024. Solanum ensifolium. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024: e.T212065930A253642712. – https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T212065930A253642712.en
• Graham, M.R., Kaur, N., Jones, C.S. et al. A phoenix in the greenhouse: characterization and phylogenomics of complete chloroplast genomes sheds light on the putatively extinct-in-the-wild Solanum ensifolium (Solanaceae). BMC Plant Biology 25, 320 (2025). – https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-025-06338-8
• The Institute for Regional Conservation – https://www.regionalconservation.org/ircs/database/plants/PlantPagePR.asp?TXCODE=Solaensi
• Jankauski Mark,  Ferguson Riggs, Russell Avery and  Buchmann Stephen. 2022. Structural dynamics of real and modelled Solanum stamens: implications for pollen ejection by buzzing bees. Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Volume 19 Issue 188. 1920220040 – http://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2022.0040
• National Science Foundation’s Solanaceae Source – https://solanaceaesource.myspecies.info/content/solanum-ensifolium
• Pascarella, John & Aide, T. Mitchell & Serrano, Mayra & Zimmerman, Jess. (2000). Land-Use History and Forest Regeneration in the Cayey Mountains, Puerto Rico. Ecosystems. 3. 217-228. – https://doi.org/10.1007/s100210000021
• Rosario, Lumariz Hernandez, Juan O. Rodríguez Padilla, Desiree Ramos Martínez, Alejandra Morales Grajales, Joel A. Mercado Reyes, Gabriel J. Veintidós Feliu, Benjamin Van Ee, and Dimuth Siritunga. "DNA Barcoding of the Solanaceae Family in Puerto Rico Including Endangered and Endemic Species." Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 144, no. 5 (2019): 363–374. – https://doi.org/10.21273/JASHS04735-19
• Strickland-Constable, R., Schneider, H., Ansell, S.W., Russell, S.J. and Knapp, S. (2010), Species identity in the Solanum bahamense species group (Solanaceae, Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum). Taxon. 59. 209-226. – https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.591020
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/817

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A note on accuracy: I strive for it! These episodes are well-researched and built from scholarly sources, hoping to provide an informed and accurate portrait of these species. That said, I’m a musician! I am not an academic and have limited scientific background. I may get things wrong! If you are using this podcast for scholarship of any kind, please see the cited sources and double-check all information.