Lycianthes chiapensis var. chiapensis

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

10a Lycianthes chiapensis var. chiapensis Fig. 24

Lycianthes nyssifolia Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 366. 1919.

Type.

Guatemala. Suchitepéquez: Las Nubes, Nov 1875, K. Bernoulli & O. Cario 2397 (holotype: GOET [GOET003443]).

Description.

Woody vine to 10 m tall, probably taller. Indument of tan, pale yellow to brown, uniseriate, multicellular, stalked, multangulate-stellate (also some simple and dendritic), eglandular, spreading trichomes 0.1-0.5 (1 mm) long, 0.75-1 mm in diameter, the rays of the multangulate trichomes 3-6 per whorl, straight, rarely rebranched. Stems greenish-tan when young, sparsely to moderately pubescent, not compressed when dried in a plant press, becoming woody with age; 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 4-14 × 2-4.5 cm, the smaller ones with blades 2-7 × 1.5-3.5 cm, the leaf pairs similar in shape, the blades ovate, elliptic or obovate (sometimes the small geminate leaf nearly orbicular), thick 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 0.2-2.5 cm long, the larger leaf blades with 4-6 primary veins on each side of the midvein. Flowers solitary or in groups of 2-3, axillary, oriented horizontally to ascending; peduncles absent; pedicels 10-25 mm and erect to arching in flower, to 40 mm long and erect to arching in fruit, glabrous to sparsely pubescent; calyx 4-5 mm long, 4-5 mm in diameter, campanulate, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, the margin truncate, slightly membranous, wavy or shallowly lobed, with 10 erect to spreading, linear appendages 0.25-3 mm long emerging 0.1-1.5 mm below the calyx rim; fruiting calyx enlarged, campanulate, remaining close to the fruit, 6-8 mm long, 10-13 mm in diameter, the appendages to 5 mm long; corolla 0.7-1.5 cm long, open corolla orientation unknown, stellate in outline, divided ca. 1/3 of the way to the base, with abundant interpetalar tissue, white, additional markings unknown, nearly glabrous to moderately pubescent with short trichomes abaxially near the veins; stamens subequal to unequal, straight, the four short filaments ca. 1 mm long, the long filament 1-2 mm long, glabrous, the anthers 5-5.5 mm long, lanceolate, free of one another, yellow, sometimes sparsely pubescent on inner surface along connective, poricidal at the tips, the pores obovate, dehiscing distally or toward the style, not opening into longitudinal slits; pistil with glabrous ovary, the style 8-10 mm long, linear, straight, glabrous, the stigma ovoid. Fruit a berry, 10-20 mm long, 7-15 mm in diameter, ovoid, orange at maturity, glabrous, lacking sclerotic granules. Seeds 20-30 per fruit, 3.5-4 × 2.5-3 mm, flattened, with slightly thickened rim, depressed ovate in outline, yellow-orange to brown, the surface reticulum with minute, serpentine pattern with shallow luminae.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Distribution and habitat.

Mexico (Chiapas) and Guatemala (Quetzaltenango, San Marcos, Suchitepéquez), in tropical moist forest or cloud forest, sometimes on sand formations, 1500-2400 m in elevation (Fig. 25 ).

Common names and uses.

None known.

Phenology.

Flowering specimens have been collected in June. Specimens with mature fruits have been collected in December and January. The timing of the diurnal movements of the corollas of this species is not known, but the corollas are usually closed on herbarium specimens, indicating that they are probably open for a short time, most likely in the morning.

Preliminary conservation status.

Lycianthes chiapensis var. chiapensis is a rarely collected variety of southwestern Guatemala and adjacent Mexico, represented by only 12 collections, three of which are from protected areas. The EOO is 3,020.311 km2, and the AOO is 44 km2. Based on the IUCN (2019) criteria, the preliminary assessment category is Endangered (EN).

Discussion.

Lycianthes chiapensis var. chiapensis is an upper elevation wet forest taxon that is localized in the southern tip of Chiapas and the western region of Guatemala along the Pacific slope. Unlike the more common variety, L. chiapensis var. sparsistellata Standl. & Steyerm., this variety is under-collected, and little is known about its appearance and growth form; it is likely a large liana like var. sparsistellata . The lower sympodial units merge into sinuate woody branches as the plant ages. The mature wood is dark brown and lustrous. This variety differs from var. sparsistellata in having a larger flowering calyx that remains campanulate in fruit and adheres to the fruit as it ages; var. sparsistellata has a much smaller calyx that becomes plate-like in fruit. The fruit of var. chiapensis is also larger, ovoid, and has more seeds. This variety was the first variety to be described, and the type specimens mainly have buds on them, but the larger size of the buds are obvious and different from those of var. sparsistellata . In addition, the leaves of var. chiapensis are somewhat thicker in texture and often more glabrous than those of var. sparsistellata . Although most authors of floras have synonymized the two varieties (for example: Gentry and Standley 1974; Nee 1986), they appear to be very different with regard to calyx morphology and fruit size, and so we are keeping them separate in this treatment. Standley and Steyermark (1940) introduced confusion into the description of the two varieties when describing var. sparsistellata for the first time. The type of var. sparsistellata is clearly that of the small calyx form, but then one of the paratypes cited (Purpus 7166 from Cerro del Boquerón, Chiapas) is clearly the large calyx form. In describing var. sparsistellata , the authors chose to emphasize pubescence density and ignored the differences in calyx and fruit size.

Representative specimens examined.

Guatemala. Quetzaltenango: Above Mujuliá, between San Martín Chile Verde and Colomba, 1800 m, 1 Feb 1941, P.C. Standley 85684 (F). San Marcos: near Aldea Fraternidad, between San Rafael Pie de la Cuesta and Palo Gordo, west facing slope of the Sierra Madre Mountains, 1800-2400 m, 10-18 Dec 1963, L.O. Williams 26281 (NY). Suchitepéquez: barranca by Loma Grande, above Finca El Naranjo, on Volcán Santa Clara, 1950-2100 m, 2 Jun 1942, J.A. Steyermark 46833 (NY). Mexico. Chiapas: Reserva de la Biosfera El Triunfo, Poligono III, Cerro Quetzal, 50 km al Sur de la Colonia Independencia, 15.7067, -92.9378, 1856 m, 1 Apr 2001, G. López-Hernández (MO).

Figures

Figure 24. Image of herbarium specimen of L. chiapensis var. chiapensis, Standley 84958 (F). Specimen used with permission from the Field Museum of Natural History.

Figure 25. Map of geographic distribution of L. chiapensis var. chiapensis based on herbarium specimen data.