Lycianthes orogenes Standl. & Steyerm., Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 23(5): 229. 1947

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

33 Lycianthes orogenes Standl. & Steyerm., Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 23(5): 229. 1947 Fig. 76

Type.

Guatemala. Chimaltenango: southwestern slopes of Volcán de Fuego, above Finca Montevideo, along Barranco Espinazo, 1200-1600 m, 20 Sep 1942, J.A. Steyermark 52104 (holotype: F [0072921F, acc. # 1148518]; isotype: US [00027892]).

Description.

Shrub, erect, 1-3 m tall. Indument of white to light brown, uniseriate, multicellular, simple, eglandular, patent to curved and appressed-ascending trichomes 0.25-0.75 mm long. Stems green when young, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, compressed upon drying in a plant press, woody with age; upper sympodial branching points monochasial or dichasial. Leaves simple, the leaves of the upper sympodia usually paired and unequal in size, the larger ones with blades 8-18 × 2-6 cm, the smaller ones with blades 2-6.5 × 1-3 cm, the leaf pairs usually similar in shape, the blades ovate (sometimes narrowly) to elliptic, membranaceous to thin chartaceous, sometimes with purple color along the veins, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, the base cuneate to attenuate, sometimes oblique, the margin entire, usually undulate, the apex acute to acuminate, the petiole 0.2-3.3 cm long, sometimes absent, the larger leaf blades with 4-6 primary veins on each side of the midvein. Flowers solitary or in groups of 2-7, axillary, erect to nodding; peduncles absent; pedicels 15-30 mm and erect to arching in flower, to 40 mm long, arching to deflexed in fruit, usually glabrous; calyx 1.5-2.5 mm long, 3-4 mm in diameter, campanulate, glabrous, the margin truncate, with 10 erect to slightly spreading, slightly flattened appendages 1-1.5 mm long emerging 0.25-0.5 mm below the calyx rim; fruiting calyx enlarged, widely bowl-shaped, 1.5-2.5 mm long, 6-7 mm in diameter, the appendages 1-2.5 mm long, spreading; corolla 0.7-1.6 cm long, campanulate to reflexed in orientation, entire to slightly stellate in outline, divided ca. 1/5 of the way to the base, with interpetalar tissue, white, sometimes with purple markings on the adaxial side near the stamen insertion, glabrous; stamens unequal, the four shorter filaments 1-1.5 mm long, the one long filament 2-3 mm long, glabrous, the anthers 3-4 mm long, lanceolate, free of one another, yellow, glabrous, poricidal at the tips, the pores round, dehiscing distally or towards the pistil, not opening into longitudinal slits; pistil with glabrous ovary, the style 6-7 mm long, linear, straight, glabrous, the stigma capitate to oblong, decurrent down two sides. Fruit a berry, 5-8 mm long, 5-10 mm in diameter, ovoid, globose, or depressed globose, green when immature, purple at maturity, glabrous, lacking sclerotic granules. Seeds 10-50 per fruit, 2-2.5 × 1.5-2 mm, flattened, reniform in outline with deep notch on one side, orange-brown in center with yellow-orange margin, the surface reticulum with minute serpentine pattern and shallow luminae.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Distribution and habitat.

Mexico (Chiapas) and Guatemala (Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Chimaltenango) in cloud forest, including oak forest, 1200-2300 m in elevation (Fig. 77 ).

Common names and uses.

None known.

Phenology.

Flowering specimens have been collected in August and September. Specimens with mature fruits have been collected in February. Immature fruits have been collected in August. The phenological record is incomplete, due to the paucity of specimens, and there is very little information on the diurnal movements of the corollas.

Preliminary conservation status.

Lycianthes orogenes is a rarely collected species of Mexico and Guatemala, represented by only five collections, none of which is from a protected area. The EOO is 19,783.690 km2, and the AOO is 20 km2. Based on the IUCN (2019) criteria, the preliminary assessment category is Endangered (EN).

Discussion.

Lycianthes orogenes is an undercollected species of cloud forests in Chiapas and Guatemala that is morphologically similar to L. manantlanensis and L. barbatula , with which it shares slender elongate pedicels and white flowers. Lycianthes orogenes has calyx appendages that are intermediate in length between the two other species, and it lacks the trichomes in the leaf axils that are present in L. barbatula . Although the mature fruits have been reported in the literature as green ( Gentry and Standley 1974; Rodríguez and Vargas 2002), they are reported as purple on specimen labels, and the immature fruits are green. Specimens of L. manantlanensis from some areas of Guatemala and El Salvador have sometimes been misidentified as L. orogenes .

Representative specimens examined.

Guatemala. Alta Verapaz: San Cristóbal, Finca Pamac II, 15.3980, -90.5883, 2179 m, 16 Aug 2015, E. Car 35 (BIGU). Baja Verapaz: Unión Barrios, top of hill, W of km 153/154, 16 Aug 1975, C.L. Lundell 19655 (LL, F, MO). Chimaltenango: lower and middle southwestern slopes of Volcán Fuego, above Finca Montevideo, along Barranco Espinazo and tributary of Río Pantaleón, 1200-1600 m, 20 Sep 1942, J.A. Steyermark 52104 (US). Mexico. Chiapas: 3 km al O de la carretera San Cristóbal de las Casas-Tenejapa, sobre el camino a Matzala, [16.6651, -92.5487], [2500 m], 29 Sep 1983, E. Cabrera C. 5773 (MEXU).

Figures

Figure 76. Image of herbarium specimen of L. orogenes, Cabrera 5773 (MEXU). Specimen used with permission from the Herbario Nacional de Mexico, Universidad Autonoma de Mexico.

Figure 77. Map of geographic distribution of L. orogenes based on herbarium specimen data.