Lycianthes michaelneei E.Dean, Phytoneuron 2014-42: 4 (2 Apr 2014)

Dean, Ellen, Poore, Jennifer, Anguiano-Constante, Marco Antonio, Nee, Michael H., Kang, Hannah, Starbuck, Thomas, Rodrigues, Annamarie & Conner, Matthew, 2020, The genus Lycianthes (Solanaceae, Capsiceae) in Mexico and Guatemala, PhytoKeys 168, pp. 1-333 : 1

29 Lycianthes michaelneei E.Dean, Phytoneuron 2014-42: 4 (2 Apr 2014) Fig. 64

Type.

Mexico. Veracruz: Mpio. Calcahualco: 4.2 km W of Escola on road to Jacal, 17.5 km by road NW of Coscomatepec, 2,200 m, 12 Jan 1981, M. H. Nee & G. Schatz 19791 (holotype: WIS; isotypes: CAS [483750, acc. # 648091, MEXU [acc. # 303241]).

Description.

Shrub, 2-4 m tall. Indument of light yellow, uniseriate, multicellular, simple, eglandular, spreading to appressed, weak, sometimes matted (on stem) trichomes, 0.25-2 mm long. Stems tan to purplish with vertical ridges when young (dark striations not evident on dried material), moderately to densely pubescent, not compressed when dried in a plant press, becoming brown and woody with age; upper sympodial branching points mostly monochasial, sometimes dichasial. Leaves simple, the leaves of the upper sympodia usually paired and unequal in size, the larger ones with blades 13.9-23.5 × 5.5-10.5 cm, the smaller ones with blades 5.7-8.5 × 2.6-4.7 cm, the leaf pairs similar in shape, ovate, elliptic, or obovate, chartaceous, densely pubescent, the base rounded to cuneate, sometimes oblique, the margin entire, usually undulate, the apex acuminate, the petiole 0.2-3.5 cm long, the larger leaf blades with 5-7 primary veins on each side of the midvein. Flowers solitary or in groups of 2-6 (10), axillary, oriented horizontally; peduncles absent; pedicels 15-28 mm long and erect in flower, 26-42 mm long and erect in fruit, densely pubescent; calyx 2-3 mm long, 2.5-3.5 mm in diameter, urceolate to campanulate, densely pubescent, the margin truncate, with 10 spreading, linear appendages 1-4 mm long emerging ca. 0.5 mm below the calyx rim; fruiting calyx enlarged, widely bowl- to plate-shaped, 1.5-3 mm long, 5.5-9 mm in diameter, the appendages to 6 mm long; corolla 1.1-1.6 cm long mm long, rotate in orientation, mostly entire in outline (with shallow notches), with abundant interpetalar tissue, purple adaxially, greenish-purple and densely pubescent near the major veins abaxially; stamens unequal, straight, the four short filaments 0.5-1 mm long, the one long filament 3.5-4 mm long, glabrous, the anthers 3-4 mm long, lanceolate, free of one another, yellow, glabrous, poricidal at the tips, the pores ovate, the pores of the longest stamen dehiscing toward the style, the pores of the short stamens dehiscing away from the style, not opening into longitudinal slits; pistil with glabrous ovary, the style 7-8.5 mm long, linear, straight to slightly curved, glabrous, the stigma capitate, unlobed. Fruit a berry, 6-9 mm long, 6-8 mm in diameter, globose, red at maturity, glabrous, lacking sclerotic granules. Seeds 20-30 per fruit, 2-3 × 2-2.5 mm, flattened, reniform in outline with notch on one side, brown to orange, the surface reticulum with minute serpentine pattern and shallow luminae.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Distribution and habitat.

Mexico (Veracruz), in oak-pine forest, tropical moist forest, or cloud forest, often in disturbed or secondary forest, in shady canyons and ravines, 1750-2600 m in elevation (Fig. 65 ).

Common names and uses.

None known.

Phenology.

Flowering specimens have been collected from January to July; specimens with mature fruits have been collected June to January. The diurnal corolla movements of this species are not known. The corollas on specimens are usually closed, indicating that the flowers are probably only open in the early morning.

Preliminary conservation status.

Lycianthes michaelneei is a rarely collected species of eastern Mexico, represented by only six collections, only one from a protected area (Pico de Orizaba). The EOO is 181.413 km2, and the AOO is 24 km2. Based on the IUCN (2019) criteria, the preliminary assessment category is Endangered (EN).

Discussion.

Lycianthes michaelneei is a member of series Tricolores ( Dean et al. 2017a) and was provisionally identified as L. pilosissima (M.Martens & Galeotti) Bitter (a synonym of L. tricolor ) in the Flora of Veracruz ( Nee 1986). Lycianthes michaelneei is similar to L. tricolor in having notched seeds. It differs from L. tricolor in having an entirely purple corolla (lobes and membrane) rather than a white membrane with some purple on the lobes, and it may lack the green, glandular spots on the corolla (although more fieldwork is needed to determine this). In general, this species is more robust than similar species such as L. tricolor and L. arrazolensis . Another distinctive difference is the matted stem trichomes, which are not found in closely related species ( Dean et al. 2017a).

Representative specimen examined.

Mexico. Veracruz: Mpio. Calcahualco, 1 km al S de Escola, 19.1167, -97.1333, 1950 m, 24 Jul 1986, J. L. Martínez 1227 (NY, XAL).

Figures

Figure 64. Image of herbarium specimen of L. michaelneei, Martinez 1227 (NY). Specimen used with permission from the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, New York Botanical Garden.

Figure 65. Map of geographic distribution of L. michaelneei based on herbarium specimen data.