Lycianthes ceratocalycia (Donn.Sm.) Bitter Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 498. 1919

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

9 Lycianthes ceratocalycia (Donn.Sm.) Bitter Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 498. 1919 Fig. 22

Brachistus ceratocalycius Donn.Sm. Bot. Gaz. 48: 297. 1909. Type: Guatemala. Dept. Alta Verapaz: In silva montana prope Cobán, 1600 m, Jan 1908, H. von Tuerkheim II 2060 (lectotype designated by Dean and Reyes 2018a, pg.40: US [00624002]; isolectotypes: BM [000514916], BR, E [E00190707], F [0072757F, acc. # 680315], G [G00379123], M [M-0171534], NY [00007074], US [00624001], W [acc. # 1908-5994]).

Type.

Based on Brachistus ceratocalycius Donn.Sm.

Description.

Herb to shrub, erect, 0.5-2 m tall, sometimes epiphytic. Indument of off-white to tan, uniseriate, multicellular, simple, eglandular, appressed-ascending trichomes 0.1-0.2 mm long. Stems green when young, the surface with brownish scurfy horizontal lines (perpendicular to stem axis), glabrous to moderately 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 4-14 × 2-4 cm, the smaller ones with blades 1.5-6 × 1-2.5 cm, the leaf pairs usually similar in shape, the blades ovate to elliptic (sometimes narrowly), membranaceous to chartaceous, sometimes purple abaxially, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, the base cuneate to attenuate, sometimes oblique, the margin entire, usually undulate, the apex acute to acuminate, the petiole 0.2-0.7 cm long, sometimes absent, the larger leaf blades with 4-6 primary veins on each side of the midvein. Flowers in groups of 2-5 (15), axillary, erect; peduncles absent; pedicels 7-17 mm and erect in flower, to 25 mm long and erect in fruit, glabrous to moderately pubescent; calyx 2.5-4 mm long, 4-5 mm in diameter, campanulate, puberulent with very small trichomes, the margin truncate, undulate, very well developed, with 10 very short, reflexed appendages 0.25-1 mm long emerging 1-1.5 mm below the calyx rim; fruiting calyx enlarged, widely bowl-shaped, 2-2.5 mm long, 6-8 mm in diameter, the appendages not changing in length; corolla 0.5-1.2 cm long, campanulate to reflexed in orientation, stellate in outline, divided at least 3/4 of the way to the base, with scarce interpetalar tissue, lilac to purple adaxially and abaxially, with deeper purple markings adaxially near the stamens, pubescent abaxially with very short trichomes; stamens equal, straight, the filaments ca. 1 mm long, glabrous, the anthers 3-4.5 mm long, lanceolate, free of one another, pale yellow (sometimes with brown shiny pigment on the outer side), glabrous, poricidal at the tips, the pores round, dehiscing distally, not opening into longitudinal slits; pistil with glabrous ovary, the style 6-7 mm long, linear, straight to curved at the tip, glabrous; stigma capitate, decurrent down two sides. Fruit a berry, 5-9 mm long, 5-9 mm in diameter, globose to ovoid, red at maturity, glabrous, lacking sclerotic granules. Seeds 10-60 per fruit, 1.5-2.5 × 1.5-2 mm, flattened with slightly raised and thickened edges, depressed ovate to circular in outline, tan to orange, with the surface reticulum with minute serpentine pattern and shallow luminae.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Distribution and habitat.

Mexico (Chiapas) and Guatemala (Alta Verapaz, Huehuetenango, and Quiché), in cloud forest, including oak forest, sometimes in disturbed or open areas, often on calcareous soil, 1300-2100 m in elevation (Fig. 23 ).

Common names and uses.

None known.

Phenology.

Flowering specimens have been collected April to September. Specimens with mature fruits have been collected in August. In the field in Mexico and Guatemala, the first author observed that the corollas are open in the morning and closed in the afternoon.

Preliminary conservation status.

Lycianthes ceratocalycia is a species restricted to Guatemala and lands immediately adjacent in Chiapas that is known from only 10 locations, only one of which is from a protected area (Lagunas de Montebello, Mexico). The EOO is 2,169.823 km2, and the AOO is 40 km2. Following the IUCN (2019) criteria, the preliminary assessment category is Endangered (EN).

Discussion.

Lycianthes ceratocalycia was rarely collected until recently. It can be distinguished from similar species with stellate corollas and equal stamens by the scurfy horizontal lines on the young stems.

Representative specimens examined.

Guatemala. Alta Verapaz: San Cristóbal, Finca Pamac II, 15.3986, -90.5883, 2146 m, 16 Aug 2015, A. Borrayo 5 (BIGU). Huehuetenango: northwestern region near the border with Mexico. Mpio. San Mateo Ixtatán, E of the town of Aguacate, along road to town of Yalanhuitz, 16.0377, -91.4662, 1567 m, 15 Aug 2017, E. Dean 9510 (DAV). Quiché: camino a Amachel, 15.6878, -90.9928, 1553 m, 25 Jun 2006, R. Ávila 3038 (MEXU, MEXU). Mexico. Chiapas: Mpio. La Trinitaria, Parque Nacional Lagunas de Montebello, at an outlook (mirador) above and to the E of Dos Lagunas, on the west side of Hwy 307 to the E of Lago Tziscao, ca. 7 km E of the intersection of Hwy 307 and the road to Cinco Lagos, 16.0939, -91.6361, 1461 m, 14 Sep 2017, E. Dean 9532 (DAV).

Figures

Figure 22. Image of herbarium specimen of L. ceratocalycia, Dean 9510 (DAV). Image used with permission of the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity.

Figure 23. Map of geographic distribution of L. ceratocalycia based on herbarium specimen data.