Solanum sinuatiexcisum Bitter, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 10: 558. 1912.

Knapp, Sandra, Saerkinen, Tiina & Barboza, Gloria E., 2023, A revision of the South American species of the Morelloid clade (Solanum L., Solanaceae), PhytoKeys 231, pp. 1-342 : 1

53. Solanum sinuatiexcisum Bitter, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 10: 558. 1912.

Figs 160 , 161

Solanum hyoscyamoides Bitter, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 11: 236. 1912. Type. Bolivia. La Paz: Prov. Larecaja, "viciniis Sorata, colle Catarguata", G. Mandon 395 (lectotype, designated by Barboza and Hunziker 2005, pg. 63: W [acc. # 0001339]; isolectotypes: BM [BM000617679], F [v0073294F, acc. # 976770, fragment of P isolectotype], G [G00343478], K [K000585618], P [P00335950]).

Solanum deltoideum Rusby, Descr. S. Amer. Pl. 115. 1920. Type. Bolivia. “Yungas”, 1890, M. Bang 740 (lectotype, designated by Barboza et al. 2013, pg. 258: NY [00139127]; isolectotypes BM [BM000778125], GH [00077611], MO [MO-2099411, acc. # 2056613], NY [00139128], PH [00030402], US [00027544, acc. # 57454], W [acc. # 1890-001426]).

Type.

Bolivia. La Paz: Unduavi, Sudyungas, Nov 1920, O. Buchtien 2962 (lectotype, designated by Barboza and Hunziker 2005, pg. 63 [first stage], second stage designated by Barboza et al. 2013, pg. 258: US [00650477, acc. # 703362]; isolectotypes: GOET [GOET003591], K [K000585617], LD, M, NY [00172175, 00172176], SI [003342], US [00027799, acc. # 1175816) .

Description.

Robust herbs or subwoody shrubs, 0.75-2.5 m high, erect. Stems terete or somewhat angled with longitudinal ridges, densely pubescent with transparent glandular and eglandular 5-10-celled simple, uniseriate trichomes 1-4 mm long, the terminal gland, if present, unicellular, somewhat glabrescent with age; new growth densely pubescent with mixed glandular and eglandular trichomes like those of the stems, viscid to the touch; bark of older stems pale greenish brown. Sympodial units difoliate, the leaves geminate, members of a pair equal in size and shape. Leaves simple and shallowly toothed, the blades (4.5-) 10-16 (-22.5) cm long, (2.3-) 6-12 cm wide, ovate to ovate-elliptic, widest at the middle or in the lower half, membranous, concolorous; adaxial surfaces evenly and moderately pubescent with transparent glandular and eglandular 6-10-celled simple uniseriate trichomes 1-2.5 mm long, the glands if present unicellular; abaxial surfaces with similar mixed glandular and eglandular pubescence of transparent simple uniseriate trichomes, but sparser on the lamina and denser on the midrib and main veins than on adaxial surfaces; principal veins 4-6, densely pubescent abaxially; base cuneate to attenuate onto the petiole; margins coarsely and irregularly serrate or dentate, with 4-10 teeth mostly in the lower third of the blade, directed upwards or outwards, the sinuses broad and somewhat deep, reaching ca. 1/10 of the way to the midrib; apex acuminate; petioles 1-4.5 (-6) cm long, moderately pubescent with transparent glandular and eglandular trichomes like those of the stems. Inflorescences internodal, unbranched, 2-4.5 cm long, with 4-8 flowers clustered in the distal third to quarter, densely pubescent with transparent glandular and eglandular simple uniseriate trichomes 1-4 mm long; peduncle 2-3.5 cm long; pedicels 0.7-1.2(-1.4) cm long, 0.5-0.6 mm in diameter at the base, ca. 1 mm in diameter at the apex, nodding at anthesis, densely pubescent with mixed glandular and eglandular transparent simple uniseriate trichomes like those of the rest of the inflorescence, articulated at the base; pedicel scars ca. 1 mm apart at the tip of the inflorescence. Buds elliptic to obelliptic, the corolla strongly exserted from the calyx before anthesis. Flowers 5-merous, cosexual (hermaphroditic). Calyx tube 1.8-2 mm long, conical, the lobes 3.5-6 mm long, ca. 0.5 mm wide, narrowly triangular, densely pubescent with transparent glandular and eglandular simple uniseriate trichomes 1-4 mm long like the rest of the inflorescence, denser at the tips and margins. Corolla 1.5-1.7 cm in diameter, light purple or blue-violet, with dark purple or yellow ring at base within at anthesis, openly campanulate, lobed less than 1/10 of the way to the base, the lobes minute, 1-1.5 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, cucullate at the tips, loosely and sparsely pubescent abaxially with simple uniseriate trichomes. Stamens equal; filament tube minute; free portion of the filaments 2-2.5 mm long, glabrous or with a few tangled simple uniseriate trichomes adaxially; anthers 3.5-4 (5) mm long, 1.2-1.5 mm wide, ellipsoidal, yellow, poricidal at the tips, the pore lengthening to slits with age. Ovary subglobose, glabrous; style 6-9 mm, straight, exserted beyond the anther cone, densely pubescent in the lower half with papillate trichomes; stigma broadly capitate to saddle-shaped and somewhat bilobed, the surfaces minutely papillate, bright green in live plants. Fruit a globose berry, 0.7-1.2 cm in diameter, green at maturity, the pericarp thin, matte and opaque, glabrous; fruiting pedicels 1.2-1.5 cm long, ca. 1 mm in diameter at the base, ca. 2 mm in diameter at the apex, not markedly woody, strongly deflexed and curving at the base, not persistent; fruiting calyx slightly accrescent, appressed to the berry, the tube ca. 3 mm long, the lobes to 6 mm long. Seeds 30-70 per berry, 1.5-1.7 mm long, 1.1-1.2 mm wide, teardrop shaped but not markedly flattened, pale yellow brown, the surfaces minutely pitted, the testal cells pentagonal to polygonal in outline, with distinct strands of hair-like thickenings from the lateral cell walls. Stone cells 2-8, 0.5-0.8 mm in diameter, small and scattered throughout the berry, cream-coloured. Chromosome number: 2n = 24 (reported in Edmonds and Chweya 1997 cannot be verified, no voucher cited).

Distribution

(Fig. 162 ). Solanum sinuatiexcisum occurs from southern Peru (Dept. Cusco) and central Bolivia (Depts. Cochabamba, La Paz, Santa Cruz) to northern Argentina (Provs. Catamarca, Jujuy, Salta).

Ecology and habitat.

Solanum sinuatiexcisum grows in montane and premontane forests ( ‘yungas’), often at the edges of open areas along streams and light gaps in the forest, at elevations from 500 to 3,200 m elevation.

Common names and uses.

None recorded.

Preliminary conservation status

( IUCN 2022). Least Concern [LC]. EOO = 625,487 km2 [LC]; AOO = 148 km2 [EN]. Solanum sinuatiexcisum is widely distributed but not often collected; the low AOO is most likely due to collection deficit. It has been collected in protected areas in Argentina (Parque Nacional El Rey) and Bolivia (e.g., Parque Nacional Carrasco).

Discussion.

Solanum sinuatiexcisum is a member of what was previously recognised as section Solanum Campanulisolanum ( Barboza and Hunziker 2005), together with the very similar S. fiebrigii . They are resolved as sister taxa with molecular data ( Särkinen et al. 2015b; Gagnon et al. 2022). Both species are large lax herbs with campanulate flowers and long, simple eglandular pubescence. Solanum sinuatiexcisum differs from S. fiebrigii in having strictly unbranched, usually subumbellate inflorescences with reflexed fruiting pedicels (versus forked inflorescences with spreading pedicels in fruit in S. fiebrigii ) and in its narrowly triangular calyx lobes that are always longer than the calyx tube (versus deltate calyx lobes that are usually shorter than the calyx tube). Solanum fiebrigii is more widely distributed and more commonly collected than S. sinuatiexcisum where their ranges overlap.

Figures

Figure 160. Solanum sinuatiexcisum A flowering branch B glandular trichome of the leaf C eglandular trichome of the leaf D flower E calyx F glandular trichome of the calyx G dissected flower H stamen, lateral view I stamen, dorsal view J stamen, ventral view K eglandular trichome of the filament L gynoecium M infructescence N stone cell O seed P seed cross section Q embryo (A-G Solomon 13073 M-Q Nee & Solomon 36671). Illustration by N. de Flury. Previously published in Barboza et al. (2013: 259).

Figure 161. Solanum sinuatiexcisum A flower bud B flower at full anthesis (side view) C flower at full anthesis (front view) D maturing fruits (A-D Barboza et al. 3497). Photos by S. Knapp.

Figure 162. Distribution map of Solanum sinuatiexcisum.