Lycianthes scandens (Mill.) M.Nee var. flavicans (Bitter) J.Poore & E.Dean, 2020

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

42b Lycianthes scandens (Mill.) M.Nee var. flavicans (Bitter) J.Poore & E.Dean comb. nov. Figs 95 , 96

Solanum lambii Fernald, Botanical Gazette 20: 536. 1895. Type: Mexico. Sinaloa: Villa Union, Jan 1895, F. Lamb 446 (holotype: GH [00077501]; isotypes: CAS [0004496], G [G00442761], K [K000063068], MSC [MSC0092874], NDG [NDG45061], NY [00138999], US [00027643]).

Lycianthes lenta (Cav.) Bitter var. flavicans Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 366. 1919. Type: Mexico. Jalisco: Tequila, Mar 184X (year is missing the last digit), H. Galeotti 1225F (holotype: BR [000000563130]; isotypes: NY [00138704], US [01107998]).

Lycianthes lenta (Cav.) Bitter ssp. lambii (Fernald) Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 368. 1919. Type: Based on Solanum lambii Fernald.

Type.

Based on Lycianthes lenta (Cav.) Bitter var. flavicans Bitter.

Description.

Clambering or erect shrub, sometimes a vine, 1-4 m tall. Indument of white to tan, uniseriate, multicellular, sessile to stalked, furcate, multangulate-stellate, and geminate-stellate, eglandular, spreading trichomes 0.05-0.75 mm long and 0.2-0.75 in diameter, the rays of the stellate trichomes 3-5 per whorl, straight, rarely rebranched. Stems green to light brown when young, sparsely to densely pubescent, not compressed when dried in a plant press, becoming woody with age; upper sympodial branching points dichasial or monochasial, the branching not widely divaricate, the segments shallowly zigzagging. Leaves simple, the leaves of the upper sympodia usually paired, the pairs equal or unequal in size, the larger ones with blades (2.3) 4-13.2 × (1.5) 3-9 cm, the smaller ones with blades (1.3) 2.7-7.5 × (0.7) 1.2-5 cm, the leaf pairs similar in shape, the blades ovate to elliptic, chartaceous, moderately to densely pubescent (denser abaxially, sometimes nearly glabrous adaxially), the base cuneate, rounded, or truncate, sometimes oblique, the margin entire, usually irregularly undulate, the apex acute to short acuminate, the petiole 0.3-5.4 (6) cm long, the larger leaf blades with 3-5 primary veins on each side of the midvein, these usually pale in color and prominent. Flowers solitary or in groups of 2-7, axillary, erect; peduncles absent; pedicels 7-31 mm long and erect in flower, 8-38 mm long and erect in fruit, moderately to densely pubescent; calyx 2.5-4.5 mm long, 3-7 mm in diameter, campanulate, moderately to densely pubescent (the surface sometimes obscured), the margin truncate, with 10 spreading linear appendages 1.5-6 (8) mm long emerging 0.5-1.0 mm below the calyx rim; fruiting calyx enlarged, widely bowl-shaped to rotate, 2.5-4.5 mm long, 7-12 mm in diameter, the appendages to 9 mm; corolla 1-1.8 (2.1) cm long, campanulate to rotate in orientation, entire in outline, with abundant interpetalar tissue, adaxially white to pale lavender and nearly glabrous, abaxially green and sparsely to moderately puberulent on the lobes, especially at the distal end, this more evident in bud; stamens unequal, the four short filaments 1-3 mm long, the one long filament 3-7 mm long, glabrous, the anthers 4-5.5 mm long, narrowly ovate to lanceolate, free of one another, yellow, very sparsely pubescent on the inner face, poricidal at the tips, the pores ovate, dehiscing distally or the short stamens dehiscing away from the style, not opening into longitudinal slits; pistil with glabrous ovary, the style 7-12 mm long, linear, straight to curved, glabrous, the stigma oblong, decurrent down two sides. Fruit a berry, 7-17 mm long, 8-17 mm diameter, usually globose to depressed globose, red-orange at maturity, glabrous to very sparsely pubescent, lacking sclerotic granules. Seeds 40-80 per fruit, 2-3 × 1.5-2.5 mm, flattened, circular, triangular, depressed ovate, or very slightly notched in outline, yellow to yellow-orange, the surface reticulum with tight serpentine pattern with shallow lumina, the seed margin slightly thickened, lighter or darker in color.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Distribution and habitat.

Mexico (Chiapas, Colima, Jalisco, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Sinaloa), Guatemala (El Progreso, Huehuetenango, Zacapa), El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, in oak forest, pine forest, and tropical dry forest, in open disturbed areas, riparian areas, road edges, canyons and ravines, thickets and hedges, sometimes on limestone, 0-1300 m in elevation (Fig. 97 ).

Common names and uses.

None known.

Phenology.

Flowering specimens and specimens with mature fruits have been collected all months of the year. The corollas of this variety have not been observed in the field by the authors, but it is probable that the diurnal movements are similar to those of var. scandens , opening and closing in the very early morning.

Preliminary conservation status.

Lycianthes scandens var. flavicans is a widespread variety of western Mexico and Central America, represented by 111 collections and occurring in four protected areas. The EOO is 1,500,273.062 km2, and the AOO is 408 km2. Based on the IUCN (2019) criteria, the preliminary assessment category is Least Concern (LC).

Discussion.

Lycianthes scandens var. flavicans is distinguished from the more common var. scandens by having larger and denser trichomes (usually greater than 0.25 mm in diameter versus less than 0.25 mm in diameter in var. scandens ) which often make the calyx look woolly; in addition, the leaf veins are often prominent and white in color (versus obscure in var. scandens ), the corolla is often white (versus purple in var. scandens ), and the habit is often more of a shrub than a trailing vine (the common habit in var. scandens ). This variety is also found at higher elevations (to 1300 m) than var. scandens (usually less than 500 m), and it is usually along the Pacific slope of Mexico and Central America, while var. scandens is more common along the Caribbean slope. The two varieties can be difficult to distinguish in certain regions, especially Nicaragua.

The type collection from Jalisco, Mexico upon which this variety is based (H. Galeotti 1225F) has very small leaves, a form which is found in certain areas of the Pacific slope of Mexico. Other populations have much larger leaves. To illustrate this morphological variation, we have provided two figures (Figs 93 , 94 ) for this taxon.

Representative specimens examined.

Guatemala. El Progreso: Tulumaje, [14.9286, -90.0313], 346 m, 23 Oct 2003, R. Avila 71 (MO, MEXU). Huehuetenango: Between Santa Ana Huista and woods of Rancho Lucas, Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, 800-900 m, 26 Aug 1942, J.A. Steyermark 51365 (MO1294998). Zacapan: San Agustín Acasaguastlan, [14.9480, -89.9647], 300 m, 8 Feb 2003, F. Ramírez 254 (MEXU). Mexico. Chiapas: roadside on road MEX190 from Tuxtla Gutiérrez to San Fernando, about 8 km NW from the center of Tuxtla Gutiérrez (in a straight line), 16.7944, -93.1836, 733 m, 29 Nov 2012, L. Bohs 3920 (DAV, MEXU). Colima: 17-18 km al NW de Colima; 1 km al sur de Campo Cuatro, [19.3138, -103.7604], 1300 m, 15 Aug 1991, F.J. Santana Michael 5281 (MEXU). Jalisco: Rancho Cuixmala, along the Río Cuitzmala near the ranch headquarters, from the road crossing to Zapata downstream about 1 km, [19.38, -104.98], 10 m, 16 Mar 1991, A. Sanders 10509 (MO, NY). Michoacán: Cuatrocaminos, 4 km al N de Playa Azul, rumbo a la desviación a Lázaro Cárdenas-Tecomán, 18.0196, -102.3414, 50 m, 21 Jun 1998, P. Tenorio L. 19750 (MEXU). Oaxaca: Dto. Yautepec, Toma de Agua, 16.4433, -90.0044, 1036 m, 24 May 2012, D. López P. 3039 (DAV). Sinaloa: Culiacán, 27 Aug-15 Sep 1981, E. Palmer 1502 (NY).

Figures

Figure 93. Image of herbarium specimen of L. scandens var. scandens, Dean 238 (DAV). Image used with permission of the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity.

Figure 94. Map of geographic distribution of L. scandens var. scandens from Mexico to Honduras based on herbarium specimen data.

Figure 95. Image of herbarium specimen of L. scandens var. flavicans, Reyes-Garcia 1267 (MEXU). Specimen used with permission from the Herbario Nacional de Mexico, Universidad Autonoma de Mexico.

Figure 96. Image of herbarium specimen of L. scandens var. flavicans, Lott 2799 (MO). Specimen used with permission from the Missouri Botanical Garden (http: // www. tropicos. org).

Figure 97. Map of geographic distribution of L. scandens var. flavicans from Mexico to Honduras based on herbarium specimen data.