Lycianthes jalicensis E.Dean, Novon 8: 133. 1998

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

25 Lycianthes jalicensis E.Dean, Novon 8: 133. 1998 Fig. 56

Type.

Mexico. Jalisco: S of Puerto Vallarta and N of El Tuito, along hwy. 200, 20.3 road km S of Playa Mismaloya, W side of the road, along footpath that follows small drainage, 500 m, 13 Aug. 1991, E. Dean 248 (holotype: DAV [DAV158081]; isotypes: IEB [000183677], MEXU [MEXU01195794], NY [00687933], UC [1797878], XAL [XAL0106678]).

Description.

Shrub, 0.3-2.2 m tall, from horizontal rhizomes. Indument white to tan, uniseriate, multicellular, simple, eglandular, appressed (usually appressed-ascending) trichomes 0.1-1.25 mm long. Stems green to purple (drying greenish tan) with purple (drying blackish) lenticular vertical striations and purplish nodes when young, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, not much 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 5.5-15 (22) × 2.9-8.7 (11) cm, the smaller ones with blades 2-9 (12) × 1.3-4.9 (7) cm, the leaf pairs similar in shape, the blades ovate, elliptic, or obovate, chartaceous, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, the base cuneate to truncate (rounded on small leaves), sometimes oblique, the margin entire, usually irregularly undulate, the apex acuminate, the petiole 0.1-1.5 (2.5) cm long, the larger leaf blades with 5-7 primary veins on each side of the midvein. Flowers solitary or in groups of 2-7, axillary, oriented horizontally; peduncles absent; pedicels 5-30 mm long and erect in flower, 11-29 mm long and erect in fruit, glabrous (rarely sparsely pubescent); calyx 2.5-4 mm long, 2.5-5.5 mm in diameter, campanulate, glabrous to sparsely puberulent, the margin truncate, with 10 spreading, linear appendages 1-5.5 mm long emerging 0.5-1 mm below calyx rim; fruiting calyx enlarged, widely bowl-shaped to rotate, 1.5-3.5 mm long, (3.5) 5-8 mm in diameter, the appendages to 6 mm long; corolla (1) 1.4-2.3 cm long, campanulate in orientation (sometimes opening wider by tearing), mostly entire in outline (with shallow notches), with abundant interpetalar tissue, adaxially white and glabrous with no markings, the abaxial side of the lobes green, glabrous to sparsely puberulent; stamens unequal, straight, the four short filaments 0.5-2 mm long, the one long filament 4-7 mm long, glabrous, the anthers 4-6 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 shorter stamens usually dehiscing away from the style, not opening into longitudinal slits; pistil with glabrous ovary, the style 6-11 mm long, linear, slightly curved downward, glabrous, the stigma oblong, decurrent down two sides. Fruit a berry, 6-10 mm long, 7-12 mm in diameter, globose, red at maturity, glabrous, lacking sclerotic granules. Seeds 20-40 per fruit, 2-3 × 1.5-2 mm, flattened, depressed ovate in outline, tan to light brown, the surface reticulum with minutely pitted serpentine pattern and shallow luminae.

Chromosome number.

n = 12, from Iltis 29181, count reported on herbarium label as done by Leslaw Przywara, July 1984, apparently unpublished.

Distribution and habitat.

Mexico (Jalisco) in tropical moist forest, tropical dry forest or in oak forest, often near drainages, 350-1350 m in elevation (Fig. 57 ).

Common names and uses.

None known.

Phenology.

Flowering specimens have been collected from June through November (and March); specimens with mature fruits have been collected August through December (and March). Field observation of the corollas indicates that they are open in the early morning and closed by late morning ( Dean et al. 2017a).

Preliminary conservation status.

Lycianthes jalicensis is currently only known from the state of Jalisco, Mexico, represented by 27 collections, only two from protected areas. The EOO is 6,855.367 km2, and the AOO is 92 km2. Unfortunately, the lands where this species grows are vulnerable due to recent land use changes. Based on the IUCN (2019) criteria, the preliminary assessment category is Vulnerable (VU).

Discussion.

Lycianthes jalicensis occurs at the low elevations and in habitats that can also be inhabited by the widely distributed L. arrazolensis ; some populations of L. arrazolensis also share the white, campanulate corollas and seeds found in L. jalicensis . The two species differ in that L. jalicensis has longer pedicels (the length more similar to that of L. tricolor ), has glabrous calyces and corollas, and usually has larger floral dimensions than L. arrazolensis . Lycianthes jalicensis can be distinguished from L. tricolor by having unnotched seeds, more glabrous calyces and flowers, and lower elevational range ( Dean et al. 2017a).

Representative specimen examined.

Mexico. Jalisco: streamside bottoms and steep lower erosive wooded slopes of La Calera, a deep narrow valley cut into the SW-facing slope of Sierra de Manantlán Occidental, just NW of km 188 marker on Autlán-Manzanillo hwy (Mex 80), 9 km (by air) NNE of La Resolano (Casimiro Castillo) and ca 16 km SSE of Autlán, [19.6778, -104.4084], 800-1100 m, 10 Mar 1992, Iltis 31037 (DAV, WIS).

Figures

Figure 56. Image of herbarium specimen of L. jalicensis, Iltis 29181 (NY). Specimen used with permission from the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, New York Botanical Garden.

Figure 57. Map of geographic distribution of L. jalicensis based on herbarium specimen data.