Solanum luculentum C.V.Morton ex S.Knapp, 2010

Knapp, Sandra, 2013, A revision of the Dulcamaroid Clade of Solanum L. (Solanaceae), PhytoKeys 22, pp. 1-432 : 159-163

23. Solanum luculentum C.V.Morton ex S.Knapp , PLoS ONE 5(5): e10502. 2010 Figure 59

Type.

Colombia. Antioquia: Mpio. Sonsón, Vereda Manzanares, Finca La Montañita, Cerro de la Vieja, páramo de Sonsón, 2600-3100m, 11 Jan 1995, J. Betancur & S.P. Churchill 5912 (holotype: COL [COL000057871]; isotype: HUA).

Description.

Woody vines or lianas, occasionally apparently epiphytic, to 6 m long; stems glabrous and shiny; new growth almost completely glabrous, with a few (1 or 2), minute, golden multiseriate trichomes <0.5 mm long; bark of older stems pale tan and markedly exfoliating ( “shreddy” fide Nee & Callejas 32546). Sympodial units plurifoliate. Leaves simple, 2-11 cm long, l-5 cm wide, elliptic to narrowly elliptic, coriaceous, the upper surfaces glabrous and shiny, the veins not apparent, the lower surfaces glabrous, the veins yellowish cream; primary veins 5-7 pairs, prominent below, obscure above; base cuneate to acute to truncate and occasionally slightly cordate; margins entire, strongly revolute in both dry and live (fide Steyermark et al. 100777) plants; apex acute or occasionally long acuminate; petioles 0.7-3 cm long, glabrous or with a few scattered glandular papillae, wrinkled when dry, twining. Inflorescences terminal, 3-11 cm long, more or less ellipsoid in outline, many times branched, with 20-50 flowers, glabrous; peduncle 0.5-2 cm long, the branches very near the base; pedicels 1.2-1.5 cm long, slender, ca. 0.5 mm in diameter at the base, ca. 1 mm in diameter at the apex, glabrous, apparently somewhat erect at anthesis, articulated just above the base, leaving a prominent swelling on the axis; pedicel scars irregular spaced 2-10 mm apart. Buds globose, becoming ellipsoid to turbinate, the corolla strongly exserted from the calyx tube early in expansion. Flowers heterostylous, the plants probably dioecious, with long-styled and short-styled flowers on different plants but of similar overall morphology. Calyx tube 1.5-2 mm long, conical, the lobes 0.5-1 mm, broadly deltate, glabrous with the tips minutely papillate. Corolla 1.5-1.7 cm in diameter, white or occasionally tinged with lavender, stellate, lobed 2/3 to 3/4 of the way to the base, the lobes 6-7 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, planar at anthesis, mostly glabrous on both surfaces but densely papillose on tips and margins with golden simple trichomes, these occasionally extending along the midvein of the abaxial surface. Filament tube minute, the free portion of the filaments ca. 1 mm long, glabrous; anthers of long-styled flowers ca. 4 mm long, 1 mm wide, occasionally slightly shrivelled, in short-styled flowers ca. 5 mm long, 1.5 mm wide, ellipsoid to pointed ellipsoid, poridical at the tips, the pores lengthening to slits with age. Ovary glabrous, vestigial in short-styled flowers; style in long-styled flowers 5-6 mm long, exserted beyond the anthers, glabrous, in short-styled flowers 2.5-3 mm long, included in the anther tube, glabrous; stigma clavate, the surface densely papillose in long-styled flowers. Fruit a globose berry, to 2 cm in diameter, green (immature?), the pericarp quite thin but not markedly shiny; fruiting pedicels 1.5-2 cm long, ca. 2-3 mm in diameter at the apex, woody and nodding. Seeds 10-12 per berry, 6-8 mm long, 4-6 mm wide, flattened reniform, pale tan, the surfaces minutely pitted, the testal cells rectangular at the margins, deeply sinuate with rib-like thickenings on the lateral walls in the seed center. Chromosome number: not known.

Distribution

( Figure 60 ). Solanum luculentum occurs in the Andes of Colombia (Depts. Antioquia, Cundinamarca and Nariño) and Venezuela (from the Colombian border to the Federal District around Caracas); 1500 to 3200 m.

Ecology.

Cloud forests, forest margins.

Conservation status.

Least Concern (LC); EOO>100,000 km2 (LC) and AOO>10,000 km2 (LC). See Moat (2007) for explanation of measurements.

Discussion.

Solanum luculentum was identified as a new species by the Solanaceae specialist Conrad V. Morton in the 1940s on herbarium annotation slips on specimens in US (Archer 1153, 1227), but his appropriate name was never published. I decided to use it, as it perfectly describes the distinguishing characteristic of this species; its coriaceous, lustrous and shining leaves. Solanum luculentum has long been confused with Solanum dichroandrum , with which it is sympatric, but differs from Solanum dichroandrum in its completely glabrous leaves and inflorescences, revolute leaf margins and heterostylous flowers.

Specimens of Solanum luculentum , to my knowledge, either bear short-styled flowers and no fruits or long-styled flowers and fruits; this may be indicative of a dioecious species of Solanum , one of very few outside the Leptostemonum clade (see Knapp et al. 1998; Martine et al. 2009), and the first record for this breeding system in the Dulcamaroid clade. Field confirmation of the breeding system of Solanum luculentum will be interesting; pollen of this species has not yet been examined to ascertain if it is inaperturate, as is pollen of other dioecious solanums ( Knapp et al. 1998) or if the flower morphology is related to plant age.

Specimens examined.

Colombia. Antioquia: Caldas, Finca La Zarza, Vereda La Corrala, al lado del camino al la cascada, 2500 m, 21 Sep 1987, Albert de Escobar et al. 7939 (MO); Santa Elena, 1500 m, 28 Dec 1930, Archer 1153 (US); Santa Elena, 1500 m, 1 Jan 1931, Archer 1227 (US); La Ceja, en los alrededores, 2500 m, 21 Aug 1948, Barkley & Johnson 264 (US); Campamento, Vereda El Mango, 6 km NO de Campamento de la via a la mina de LAs Brisas, 1820 m, 8 Sep 1989, Callejas et al. 8339 (US); Monte del Diablo, (La Ceja), 21 Jul 1944, Brother Daniel 3281 (US); Boquerón, near Medellín, 2680 m, Brothers Daniel & Arsènio 3486 (US); San José de Cuerquía, camino del páramo, 31 Jul 1958, Garganta 2167 (US); midway between Medellín and Río Negro, 2500 m, 8 Jul 1986, Nee & Callejas 32456 (US); Salgar, km 15 of road Salgar-Hacienda El Dauro (Dpto. Chocó), 2380 m, 14 Mar 1987, Zarucchi & Echeverry 4753 (K); Jardín, Alto de Ventanas, km 20 of road Jardín-Riosucio (Dept. Caldas), ca. 15 km SSE of Jardín, 2700 m, 29 Oct 1988, Zarucchi et al. 6928 (K, US); Boyacá: Cordillera Oriental, near Laguna Seca in valley of Río de los Pajaros, 2650 m, 26 Aug 1957, Grubb et al. 737 a (K); Cundinamarca: San Miguel, S of Sibaté on road to Fusagasugá, between km 35 and 36, 2600 m, 12 May 1972, Barclay et al. 3404 (US); San Miguel, carretera a Fusagasugá, 2800 m, 9 May 1949, García-Barriga 13335 (US); Santander: Las Vegas, in vicinity, 2600 m, 21 Dec 1926, Killip & Smith 15952 (A, GH, US).

Venezuela. Aragua: Colonia Tovar, 1856, Fendler 2099 (G, GOET, K, MO); Colonia Tovar, 4 km SW by air, on road to Capachal 2 km east from road between Colonia Tovar and La Victoria, 1600 m, 7 Apr 1982, Liesner & Medina 13496 (MO); Distrito Federal: Libertador, a lo largo del camino Costa de Maya, noroeste de la Colonia Tovar, 3-5 kms desde la carretera principal La Victoria-Colonia Tovar, 2100 m, 9 Dec 1982, Steyermark et al. 127855 (MO); Táchira: cabeceras del Río Quinimari, entre el pié del peñasco de la Peña de Pata de Judio (debajo del páramo del Judio), y el pié del salto de Chorrejón de la Mota de la Peña de Ventana, arriba de Las Copas, 18-20 kms al sur de San Vicente de la Revancha, 32-35 kms al sur de Alquitrana, suroeste de Santa Ana, 2500 m, 12 Jan 1968, Steyermark et al. 100777 (F, US).

Figures

Figure 59. Solanum luculentum S. Knapp. (A-B drawn from Nee & Callejas 32546 C-F from Steyermark et al. 127855, G from Steyermark & Dunsterville 100777 H from Killip & Smith 15952). Originally published in Knapp (2010). Illustration by Bobbi Angell.

Figure 60. Distribution of Solanum luculentum S. Knapp.