Solanum peekelii Bitter, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 55: 73. 1917

McClelland, Donald H. R., Nee, Michael & Knapp, Sandra, 2020, New names and status for Pacific spiny species of Solanum (Solanaceae, subgenus Leptostemonum Bitter; the Leptostemonum Clade), PhytoKeys 145, pp. 1-36 : 1

Solanum peekelii Bitter, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 55: 73. 1917 Figure 3

Solanum dunalianum var. inerme Witasek, Denkschr. Akad. Wiss. Wien 89: 601. 1914. Type: Papua New Guinea. Bougainville (North Solomons): "Salomonsinseln, Insel Bougainville, Am Strande bei dem Eingebornen dorf Numa-Numa", Sep 1905, K. Rechinger & L. Rechinger 3607 (lectotype, designated here: W [acc. # 1916-10316]; isolectotype: W [acc. # 1916-10317]).

Type.

Papua New Guinea. New Ireland Province: Bismark Archipelago, New Ireland [ “Neu-Mecklenburg”], Buragamata near Namatanai, 12 m, Jul, G. Peekel 523 (holotype: B [destroyed]). Papua New Guinea. New Britain Province: West New Britain, West Nakanai, Malalia near Cape Hoskins, 16 Aug 1954 (fl, fr), A. Floyd NGF-6549 (neotype, designated here: LAE [acc. # 16333]; isoneotypes: A, BM [BM000886258], CANB [acc. # 75841.1], K [K000922697], L [L.4307653], MEL [MEL0625408A], NSW [acc. #594233], US [acc. # 2211029, barcode 02838857).

Description.

Erect shrub or small tree to 4(5) m tall, the internodes to 13.5 long, unarmed to sparsely armed. Stems pubescent with yellow, sessile porrect-stellate trichomes, the rays 6-10, 0.15-0.2 mm long, the midpoint shorter than to more or less equal to the rays; new growth pubescent near the leaf bases with sessile porrect-stellate trichomes like those of the stems, soon glabrescent, the prickles if present 1-2 mm long, weak-walled, somewhat broadened at the base, very sparse; bark reddish brown, glabrescent, somewhat shiny, unarmed or with very sparse prickles 1-2 mm long. Sympodial units difoliate, the leaves geminate, members of a pair more or less equal in size and shape. Leaves simple; blades 10.0-25.5 cm long, 5.0-9.0 cm wide, 2.4-3.2 times as long as wide, obovate to elliptic, chartaceous, concolorous, unarmed; adaxial surfaces more or less glabrous, the pubescence denser near the basal portion of the blade, the trichomes porrect-stellate, the rays (5)6-8, 0.5-0.2 mm long, the midpoint shorter than or equal to the rays; abaxial surfaces sparsely pubescent with sessile porrect-stellate trichomes with 6-8-rays 0.2-0.3 mm long, the midpoint erect, shorter than to more or less equal to the rays; principal veins 10-14 pairs, the midrib raised abaxially and adaxially, the lateral veins weakly brochidodromous, raised abaxially and adaxially; base rounded to cuneate, occasionally long attenuate in vigorous growth, sometimes somewhat oblique; margins entire or slightly wavy; apex acuminate; petiole 1.6-5.0 cm long, 1.0-2.2 mm in diameter, channeled above, moderately stellate-pubescent when young, unarmed, the pubescence becoming sparse to moderate and restricted to the adaxial channel with age. Inflorescence to 1.1-6 cm long, appearing lateral, extra-axillary, in the upper 1/3 of the internode often just below the leaf, unbranched or forked with a single pedicel attached below the fork, with up to 45 flowers, densely pubescent with sessile porrect-stellate trichomes like those of the stems; peduncle 0.7-1.2 cm long; pedicels 0.4-1.2 cm long, 0.3-0.4 mm in diameter at the base, 0.5-0.7 mm in diameter below the calyx, straight, gradually increasing in diameter from the base distally, articulated at the base; pedicel scars congested to spaced ca. 0.6 mm apart, rigid, in two rows. Buds conical, the calyx moderately to densely stellate-pubescent, the corolla densely stellate-pubescent where exposed abaxially, only somewhat exserted from the calyx before anthesis. Flowers 4-5-merous, all perfect or apparently so. Calyx 1.6-2.3 mm long, the tube 1.3-1.8 mm long, in bud appearing nearly truncate with lobe tips apiculate or reduced to minute protuberances 0.1-1.1 mm long, the sinuses transparent when dry, the lobes 0.7-1.7 mm long, 0.9-1.5 mm wide at anthesis, deltate, splitting in the sinuses at anthesis, moderately to densely pubescent abaxially with sessile porrect-stellate trichomes, glabrous adaxially, Corolla 1-1.5 cm in diameter, stellate, white or lavender to purple, the interpetalar tissue poorly-developed, glabrous, the lobes 5.7-6.5 mm long, 2.8-3.1 mm wide, triangular, apparently spreading at anthesis, densely pubescent along the petal midvein abaxially, more or less glabrous adaxially. Stamens equal; filament tube minute, with tiny teeth between each filament (fide Bitter 1917); free portion of the filaments ca. 0.6 mm long, glabrous; anthers 2.2-4.8 mm long, 0.6-0.9 mm wide, tapering, yellow, connivent, poricidal at the tips, the pores dorsally directed. Ovary 0.4-0.6 mm in diameter, ovoid, glabrous or with a few sessile porrect-stellate hairs at the very apex; style 3.7-5.4 mm long, 0.2-0.3 mm in diameter, filiform, straight, sparsely to moderately stellate pubescent at the very base to basal 1/3; stigma ca. 0.4 mm in diameter, capitate or slightly bilobed. Fruit a globose juicy berry, 4.0-7.0 mm in diameter, the immature fruits green, maturing red, glabrous, the pericarp thin, somewhat shiny, opaque; fruiting calyx lobes 1.2-2.3 mm long, 1.4-2.0 mm wide, sparsely to moderately pubescent, appressed in ripe fruit; fruiting pedicels 9.2-15.2 mm long, 0.3-0.7 mm in diameter at the base, 0.7-1.3 mm in diameter below the calyx, straight, gradually increasing in diameter from the base distally;. Seeds ca. 45 per fruit, 1.6-2.3 mm long, 1.4-1.9 mm wide, flattened, orbicular to reniform, notched at the point of attachment, yellow-ferruginous when dry, the surface the central area nearly smooth, the margins minutely pitted, the testal cells pentagonal or rectangular. Chromosome number not known.

Distribution and ecology

(Figure 2 ). Solanum peekelii occurs from the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea to the Solomon Islands. It has been collected in disturbed habitats such as old village gardens, forest edges, and secondary forest, from sea level to 170(-1070) m elevation. According to Peekel (1984), S. peekelii is one of the first plants to appear in abandoned gardens; the lectotype of S. dunalianum var. inerme was collected on the beach near a village.

Common names and uses.

Papua New Guinea. Bougainville: Kala-bu-ku (Kajewski 1790); Madang: Airoroana (Lepofsky 466), New Georgia: Susuriata (Waterhouse 31), leaves said to be used in preparation of a cough medicine. Peekel (1984) reported the Pala people used stems from the species to construct graters for taro and yams by binding them crosswise to a grid.

Preliminary conservation assessment

( IUCN 2019). EOO = 477,504 km2 [LC - Least Concern]; AOO = 52 km2 [EN - Endangered]. We assess Solanum peekelii as LC (Least Concern) due to its relatively wide distribution (EOO) and its occurrence in secondary and other disturbed habitats. Its use by people may also afford it some protection.

Discussion.

Solanum peekelii was named for P. Gerhard Peekel (1876-1949), a missionary in New Guinea who spent 43 years collecting plants in the Bismarck Archipelago, primarily on New Ireland, resulting in a flora of the region ( Peekel 1984). Though Peekel did not consider himself a botanist, he was clearly dedicated to the plant diversity of the area. At the outbreak of the Second World War he took measures to preserve his manuscript. Notwithstanding, it suffered from the unfavorable conditions in dugouts and concentration camps; one volume was even pierced by a bullet from an airplane. During the Japanese occupation of New Ireland, Peekel’s botanical knowledge saved his life. All people of European descent were brought to a concentration camp where Peekel was the only male not to be killed because the Japanese relied on his botanical knowledge ( Peekel 1984).

Symon (1985) mistakenly treated S. peekelii under the name S. torricellense , from which it differs in its smaller berries (4-7 mm versus 7-9 mm in diameter) and sparser pubescence of stellate rather than the multangulate trichomes characteristic of S. torricellense . Symon (1985) applied the name S. peekelii to plants of what we have named here S. labyrinthinum . He then provided a new name, S. mankiense Symon, for plants matching the type of S. torricellense (see discussion under those species on Solanaceae Source, www.solanaceaesource.org). Because the type of S. peekelii was presumed destroyed at B, Symon (1985) designated Womersley & Brass NGF-8678 from Normanby Island (here included in S. labyrinthinum ) as the neotype of S. peekelii , adding a final twist to this taxonomic labyrinth. However, none of the duplicates of Womersley & Brass NGF-8678 agree with Bitter’s (1917) detailed protologue of S. peekelii in the pubescence of the leaves and stem, leaf size or length to width ratio, number of lateral leaf vein pairs, corolla size, and lack of small teeth between each filament. Additionally, the travels and collecting habits of P.G. Peekel are well-documented ( Peekel 1984), and he never journeyed to Normanby Island. The protologue of S. peekelii and the neotype designated by Symon (1985) are thus serious conflict, and the neotypification of S. peekelii with Womersley & Brass NGF-8678 should be superseded ( Turland et al. 2018, Art. 9.19c); we neotypify the species again here with a specimen from New Ireland that exactly matches Bitter’s protologue and comes from an area where Peekel is documented to have collected.

Specimens examined.

Papua New Guinea. Bougainville: Kugu-maru, Buin, 150 m, 1 Jun 1930 (fl, fr), Kajewski 1790 (A, BM, BRI, G, P); forest edge at the village Numa-Numa, Sep 1905 (fl, fr), Rechinger & Rechinger 5365 (W); vic. of Barilo village, ca. 6 miles N of Buin Station, ca. 500 ft, 28 Aug 1964 (fl, fr), Schodde & Craven 3938 (A, CANB, K, L, LAE); Namatoa, ca. 1500 ft, 7 Mar 1932 (fl), Waterhouse 691 (K). East New Britain: Sub-district Gasmata, Torlu River, ca. 3500 ft, 27 Mar 1965 (fl, fr), Sayers NGF-24265 (A, K, L, LAE). Madang: Sub-district Saidor, Long Island, beach of Lake Wisdom, 400 m, 4 Oct 1971 (fl, fr), Essig & Lelean LAE-55039 (A, BH, CANB, K, L, LAE, NY); Sub-district Saidor, Long Island, 5 miles N of Matafuma Village, 50 ft, 15 Nov 1969 (fr), Vandenberg & Katik NGF-42331 (A, CANB, K, L, LAE). New Georgia: sin. loc., 21 May 1929 (fr), Waterhouse 31 (K, LAE). New Ireland: St. Matthias Group, Eloaua, 30 m, 16 Nov 1968 (fr) Lepofsky 466 (BISH).

Solomon Islands. Makira. Maru Bay, 550 ft, 28 Nov 1968 (fr), Gafui 12869 (K, L, LAE). Malaita: NE Malaita, 450 ft, 21 Nov 1968 (fl, fr), Mauriasi 13463 (K, L); Su’u area, SE Malaita, 500 ft, 2 Dec 1968 (fl, fr), Mauriasi 13601 (A, K, L, LAE). Santa Isabel: Suwa, Toabul, 26 Nov 1932 (fl, fr), Brass 3231 (A, L); head of Tatamba Bay, sea level, 1 Jan 1965 (fl, fr), Hunt 2835 (A, K, L, LAE, P).

Figures

Figure 2. Distribution of Solanum labyrinthinum and S. peekelii.

Figure 3. Solanum peekelii Bitter (isoneotype Floyd NGF- 6595, incorrectly labelled as S. pancheri, US [acc. 2211029, barcode 02838857]). Reproduced with permission.