Solanum is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include two food crops of the highest economic importance, the potato and the tomato. It also contains the nightshades and horsenettles, as well as numerous plants cultivated for their ornamental flowers and fruit. Solanum species show a wide range of growing habits, such as annual and perennials, vines, subshrubs, shrubs, and small trees. Many formerly independent genera like Lycopersicon (the tomatoes) and Cyphomandra are now included in Solanum as subgenera or sections. Thus, the genus today contains roughly 1,500-2,000 species.

Solanum catombelense, synonymously known as Solanum albotomentosum, Solanum rautanenii or Solanum sparsiflorum and commonly known as Bitter Apple is a South African indigenous species found in the Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and North West Provinces. It is an erect to spreading perennial herb or small shrub to 1.2m that bears white flowers which are followed by edible fruit.