Lycianthes dejecta (Fernald) Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 415. 1919

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

14 Lycianthes dejecta (Fernald) Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 415. 1919 Fig. 34

Solanum dejectum Fernald, Proc. Amer. Acad. of Arts: 35: 569. 1900. Type: Mexico. Durango: near city of Durango, Iron Mountain and vicinity, rare in crevices of rocks, July 1896, E. Palmer 347 (lectotype designated by Dean 2004 pg. 404: GH [00077482]; isolectotypes: BM [000514923], C, CAS[acc. # 162966], E [E00526483], F [0073089F, acc. # 51446], G [G00343134], K [K000063110], MEXU [MEXU00029058], MO [acc. # 2495231, acc. # 2495232, acc. # 2495233], NY [00214383], S [acc. # S-G-9980], UC [acc. # 104212, acc. # 124634], US [00027543]).

Lycianthes dejecta (Fernald) Bitter var. palmeri Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 416. 1919, nom. illeg. Type: as above, E. Palmer 347 (holotype: B [not found, cited by Bitter (1919), probably destroyed]; isotypes as listed above).

Type.

Based on Solanum dejectum Fernald.

Description.

Perennial herb from very large fusiform storage roots, decumbent to erect, decumbent forms to 0.5 m in diameter, tall forms often scrambling, supported by nearby shrubs, to 0.7 m tall, dying back each season. Indument of white, uniseriate, multicellular, simple, dendritically branched, and multangulate-stellate, eglandular, spreading trichomes 0.1-0.5 (0.75) mm long, 0.5-0.75 mm in diameter, the rays of the multangulate trichomes 3-4 per whorl, straight, often rebranched. Stems green with darker green and purple striations, moderately to densely pubescent, much compressed when pressed and dried, becoming woody with age only near the base; first stem 1-35 cm long to the first inflorescence, the internodes 2-7 (13); first sympodial branching point dichasial, followed by a mixture of monochasial and dichasial branching, this branching extensive. Leaves simple, those of the upper sympodia usually paired and unequal in size, the larger ones with blades to 3.5-14.5 × 2-8.5 cm, the smaller ones with blades ca. 1/4-3/4 the size of the larger, the leaf pairs similar in shape, the blades ovate, deltate, or reniform, chartaceous, moderately to densely pubescent, the primary veins 3-5 on each side of the midvein, the base truncate, cuneate, attenuate, decurrent onto the petiole, slightly oblique, the margin entire, usually slightly undulate, the apex acute, the petioles winged and poorly defined, 2-5.5 cm long. Flowers solitary, axillary, oriented horizontally; peduncles absent; pedicels 29-80 (115) mm and erect in flower, (35) 50-110 (125) mm long and deflexed in fruit, moderately to densely pubescent with spreading trichomes; calyx 2.5-4 mm long, 2.5-6 mm in diameter, obconic, the margin truncate, with 10 linear, somewhat reflexed appendages (1) 2-7 (8) mm long emerging ca. 0.5 mm below the calyx rim (usually obscured by trichomes); fruiting calyx enlarged, (5) 6-10 (11.5) mm long, (9) 11-20 (23) mm in diameter, the appendages reflexed to curved, often broken, (3.5) 4-15 (19) mm long; corolla 1-2.2 cm long (1.9-4.1 cm in diameter), rotate in orientation, mostly entire in outline (with shallow notches), with abundant interpetalar tissue, white to lilac, with maroon to purple stripes along the major veins adaxially, green, white, or purple and densely pubescent near the major veins abaxially; stamens unequal, straight to curved, the filaments of three lengths, the two shortest (1.25) 1.5-4 mm long, the two medium filaments (1.5) 2-5 mm long, the one long filament (2) 3-7.5 mm long, the length of the long filament 1.1-1.8 (2) times that of the medium filaments, glabrous; anthers 3-6 mm, ovate to lanceolate, free of one another, yellow, glabrous, poricidal at the tips, the pores ovate, dehiscing distally, not opening into longitudinal slits; pollen grains tricolporate; pistil with glabrous ovary, the style (6) 7-11.5 mm, linear, straight to curved downward, the stigma lobed. Fruit a berry, remaining attached to calyx at maturity, pendent, sometimes near the ground, 17-39 mm long, 12-24 mm in diameter, ovoid to conic, the exocarp light to dark green with purple or black lines (becoming yellowish or brown in age), the mesocarp white to green and juicy, lacking sclerotic granules, the placental area narrow, greenish-white, juicy. Seeds (40) 50-170 (185) per fruit, 2.2-2.8 × 1.5-2.5 mm, rounded, slightly compressed, reniform to depressed-obovate, dark brown to black, surface reticulum with loose serpentine pattern with deep luminae and microscopic fibrils protruding from the cell walls.

Chromosome number.

2n = 24, Dean 276, 309 ( Dean 2004)

Distribution and habitat.

Mexico (Baja California Sur, Distrito Federal, Durango, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Jalisco, México, Michoacán, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro) on limestone on either side of the transvolcanic belt, as well as in eroded, ancient agricultural areas within the transvolcanic belt (rarely on rhyolite), usually in xerophilous shrub; it has also been found in disturbed relictual tropical dry forest or oak forest. It has been suggested that eroded volcanic areas within the Valley of Mexico are often home to calciphiles, because erosion has exposed a lower soil layer that is calcium rich ( Rzedowski 1986). Habitats include pastures, paths, the sides of agricultural fields, and within abandoned fields at 1800-2900 m in elevation (Fig. 35 ).

Common names and uses.

Mexico. Trompeta, chichi de perra ( Dean 2004); used to treat stomachache in Guanajuato (Ocampo 47).

Phenology.

Flowering specimens have been collected June to August; specimens with mature fruits have been collected September to October. The first author observed in the field that the corollas open after sunrise and close by early afternoon. The pollen in this species has a sweet scent. Solitary bees in the genus Colletes visit this species ( Dean 2001).

Preliminary conservation status.

Lycianthes dejecta is a widespread Mexican endemic, represented by 55 collections and occurring in three protected areas (Sierra la Laguna, Sierra Gorda and Tehuacán-Cuicatlan Valley). Anguiano-Constante et al. (2018) provided a preliminary conservation assessment of Least Concern (LC).

Discussion.

Lycianthes dejecta is a perennial herb recognized by its dense, dendritic to multangulate-stellate trichomes, which cover all parts of the plant, and the truncate bases of its leaf lamina. Its fruits and seed type are similar to those of L. moziniana . It differs from that species in having maroon to black lines on its fruits, reflexed to curled calyx teeth, and microscopic fibrils on its seeds. All parts of this plant, including the fruits, have a bitter taste ( Dean 2004).

Representative specimens examined.

Mexico. Baja California Sur: Mpio. La Paz. El Paraje de Cano, Sierra de la Victoria, 23.5833, -109.9167, 1670 m, 30 Sep 1994, M. Domínquez L. 800 (HCIB). Distrito Federal: Sierra de Guadalupe, [19.5908, -99.1203], 7000 ft, Balls 5073 (BM, K, UC). Durango: [24.0237, -104.6580], Apr to Nov 1896, E. Palmer 347 (BM, C, CAS, G, UC, F, US, MO, NY). Guanajuato: cañada a 5 km de Santa Anita, cerro La Meza, [20.9667, -100.3], 2300 m, 22 Sep 2002, Castillejos-Cruz 1229 (MEXU). Hidalgo: Cañon de las Ajuntas, Santa María Macua, 20.1125, -99.4625, 2150 m, 15 Jun 2003, L. Romero 75 (MEXU). Jalisco: carretera Lagos de Moreno-Leon, km 31, [21.1739, -101.7238], 2020 m, 15 Jul 1991, H. Arreola-Navas 1270a (MEXU). México: N of Huehuetoca along the road to Apaxco, c. 4.2 road mi from building "los arcos" (in dowtown Huehuetoca), W side of rd, [19.8894, -99.2141], 7100 ft, 3 Aug 1991, E. Dean 243 (DAV). Michoacán: Vic. Morelia, Punguato, [19.6954, -101.1381], 2100 m, 20 June 1912, Arsène 8300 (F, GH, MO, NY). Nuevo León: Cerro El Gallo, [24.92, -99.78], 2085 m, 15 Jun 1991, G. Hinton 21019 (GH, IEB, TEX). Oaxaca: a las afueras de Guadalupe Membrillos, 18.0228, -97.5508, 2276 m, 12 Aug 2004, O. Téllez-V. 17009 (MEXU). Puebla: Mpio. Caltepec, between Cerro Pochote and Cerro Gavilán Chico in hills SE of town of Caltepec, along road to Atolotitlan, near small valley called La Laguna, [18.1784, -97.4698], 6800-6900 ft, E. Dean 228 (DAV). Querétaro: 2.09 km al NO de Bernal, Ezequiel Montes, 20.7508, -99.9572, 2240 m, 21 Sep 2012, O. Rubio-García 263 (IEB).

Figures

Figure 34. Image of herbarium specimen of L. dejecta, Dean 224 (DAV). Image used with permission of the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity.

Figure 35. Map of geographic distribution of L. dejecta based on herbarium specimen data.