Lycianthes chiapensis (Brandegee) Standl. var. sparsistellata Standl. & Steyerm., Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 22(4): 274 1940

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

10b Lycianthes chiapensis (Brandegee) Standl. var. sparsistellata Standl. & Steyerm., Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 22(4): 274 1940 Fig. 26

Type.

Guatemala. Chiquimula: Tixixí ( Tishishí), 3-5 miles north of Jocotán, 500-1500 m, 10 Nov 1939, J.A. Steyermark 31555 (holotype: F [0072902F, acc. # 1039909]; isotype WIS).

Description.

Shrub to woody vine, beginning as a shrub, becoming a large liana climbing into tree crowns up to 25 m tall and spreading in the crown up to 10 m wide, the lower stem to 15 cm in diameter. Indument of tannish-yellow to brown, uniseriate, multicellular, stalked, multangulate-stellate, eglandular, spreading trichomes 0.25-1 mm long, 0.75-1.2 mm in diameter, the rays 3-6 per whorl, straight, rarely rebranched. Stems light green when young (drying tan), moderately to densely pubescent, not compressed when dried in a plant press, becoming dark brown and woody with age, the stems sinuous, sometimes glabrate; upper sympodial branching usually monochasial, sometimes dichasial. Leaves simple, the leaves of the upper sympodia sometimes paired and unequal in size, the larger ones with blades 2.5-10 × 1-4 cm, the smaller ones with blades 0.8-4 × 0.5-2 cm, the leaf pairs similar in shape, the blades ovate, elliptic or obovate (sometimes the small geminate leaf nearly orbicular), thin chartaceous to chartaceous, sparsely to moderately pubescent especially along the veins (sometimes nearly glabrous), the base cuneate to rounded, sometimes oblique, the margin entire, usually undulate, the apex acute to acuminate (rarely rounded on smaller leaves), the petiole 0.2-1 cm long, the larger leaf blades with 4-5 primary veins on each side of the midvein. Flowers solitary or in groups of 2-3 (5), axillary, oriented horizontally to ascending; peduncles absent; pedicels (5) 7-24 mm and erect to arching in flower, to 30 mm long and erect to arching in fruit, sparsely to moderately pubescent; calyx (2) 2.5-3.5 mm long, 3-4.5 mm in diameter, campanulate, sparsely to moderately pubescent, the margin truncate, slightly membranous, truncate to wavy or shallowly lobed, with 10 erect to spreading, linear appendages 0.5-2.5 mm long emerging 0.25-0.5 mm below the calyx rim; fruiting calyx enlarged, widely bowl- to plate-shaped, 2-3(4) mm long, 5-8(10) mm in diameter, the appendages not lengthening and often breaking off; corolla 0.6-1.5 cm long, rotate to slightly reflexed in orientation, nearly entire to stellate in outline, divided ca. 1/3-2/3 of the way to the base, with abundant interpetalar tissue, white, the adaxial lobes sometimes with a green spot at the base near the insertion of the shorter stamens, sparsely to moderately pubescent with short trichomes abaxially near the veins; stamens unequal, the four short filaments 0.5-1 mm long, the fifth filament 2.5-4 mm long, glabrous, the anthers 4-5 mm long, lanceolate, free of one another, yellow, pubescent on the inner face, poricidal at the tips, the pores obovate, those of the shorter stamens dehiscing distally or toward the style, those of the long stamen dehiscing toward the style, not opening into longitudinal slits; pistil with glabrous ovary, the style 7-8 mm long, linear, straight to slightly curved, glabrous, the stigma capitate. Fruit a berry, 5-10 (13) mm long, 5-10 (13) mm in diameter, globose, green to white when immature, orange to red at maturity, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, lacking sclerotic granules. Seeds 5-20 per fruit, 3.5-4.5 × 2.5-3.5 mm, flattened, with slightly thickened rim, depressed ovate in outline, yellow-orange to brown, the surface reticulum with minute serpentine pattern and shallow luminae.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Distribution and habitat.

Mexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Veracruz), Guatemala (Baja Verapaz, Chiquimula, El Progresso, probably elsewhere), Honduras ( Copán, Cortés, Ocotepeque), Nicaragua (Jinotega, Matagalpa), in primary or secondary cloud forest (including oak forest), montane rain forest, and tropical dry forest, [phone] m in elevation (Fig. 27 ).

Common names and uses.

None known.

Phenology.

In most parts of the range, flowering specimens have been collected July through November (January to March in Nicaragua). Specimens with immature and mature fruits have been collected throughout the year. In the field in Guatemala, the first author observed that the corollas of this species were still open at noon and closed later in the day.

Preliminary conservation status.

Lycianthes chiapensis var. sparsistellata is a widespread variety of cloud forest habitat ranging from Mexico to Nicaragua, represented by 23 collections and occurring in five protected areas. The EOO is 156,415.154 km2, and the AOO is 84 km2. Based on the IUCN (2019) criteria, the preliminary assessment category is Least Concern (LC).

Discussion.

Lycianthes chiapensis var. sparsistellata is an upper elevation cloud forest taxon that ranges from Veracruz to Honduras (possibly Nicaragua) mostly along the Caribbean slope. It can grow into a very tall liana that can cover the tree canopy, supported by a very large twining woody stem. The lower sympodial units merge into sinuate woody branches as the plant ages. The mature wood is dark brown and lustrous. This variety is the more common of the two varieties of L. chiapensis and differs from var. chiapensis in having a smaller flowering calyx that becomes plate-like as the plant fruits. The other variety has a larger flowering calyx that adheres to the fruit as it ages and a larger fruit with more seeds. See further discussion of the two varieties under var. chiapensis .

Representative specimens examined.

Guatemala. Alta Verapaz: at Orchigonia orchid nursery/preserve outside of the city of Cobán along Guatemala Highway 14, 15.4373, -90.4120, 1487 m, 10 Aug 2017, E. Dean 9507 (DAV). Chiquimula: Cerro Tixixí ( Tishishí), 3-5 m north of Jocotán, 500-1500 m, 10 Nov 1939, J.A. Steyermark 31555 (F, WIS). El Progreso: Cerro Pinalón, Sierra de las Minas, San Acasaguastlán, 15.0656, 89.9833, 2230 m, 1 Mar 2007, M. Flores 3548 (MO). Mexico. Chiapas: cima del Cerro Salomón, al NO de Benito Juárez, ca. 44 km en línea recta al N de San Pedro Tapantepec, 16.7708, -94.1953, 1770 m, 7 Apr 1986, M. Ishiki 1451 (NY). Oaxaca: Cerro Sabinal, ca. 2 km al SO de Cerro Guayabitos, ca. 3 km en línea recta al NNO de Díaz Ordaz, ca. 40 km en línea recta al N de San Pedro Tapanatepec, al O de la cima del cerro, 16.7333, -94.1917, 1500 m, 21 Dec 1984, T. Wendt 4678 (NY). Veracruz: along trails to base of Volcán Santa Marta, 0-3 km E village of Santa Marta, [18.35, -95.8667], 1100-1200 m, 29 Jun 1982, M. Nee 24700 (F, NY, XAL).

Figures

Figure 26. Image of herbarium specimen of L. chiapensis var. sparsistellata, Tellez 7946 (MO). Specimen used with permission from the Missouri Botanical Garden (http: // www. tropicos. org).

Figure 27. Map of geographic distribution of L. chiapensis var. sparsistellata from Mexico to Honduras based on herbarium specimen data.