Solanum aspersum S.Knapp, 2010

Knapp, Sandra, 2010, Four New Vining Species of Solanum (Dulcamaroid Clade) from Montane Habitats in Tropical America, PLoS ONE 5 (5), pp. 1-8 : 2-3

Solanum aspersum S.Knapp , sp. nov.

[urn:lsid:ipni.org: names:77103633-1]

Type: Colombia. Putumayo: vertiente oriental de la Cordillera , entre Sachamates y San Francisco de Sibundoy , 1600–1750 m, 30 Dec 1940, J. Cuatrecasas 11471 (holotype, COL ; isotypes, F [ F-1335119 ] , US [ US-1799731 ]) .

Figure 1 .

Species Solano aureo Dunal similis, sed foliis bullatis, trichomatibus uniseratis simplices, gemmis elongatis, corollis profunde stellatis, differt.

Woody vine, of unspecified length or height; stems densely and evenly pubescent with antrorsely curved simple uniseriate trichomes 0.5–1.5 mm long, these few-celled with a large basal cell, arising from expanded bases and eventually deciduous; new growth densely pubescent with simple uniseriate trichomes to 1.5 mm, these pale straw-colored in herbarium specimens; bark of older stems greenish brown, minutely tuberculate from the bases of the deciduous trichomes. Sympodial units plurifoliate. Leaves simple, (12)3.5–9× (0.62) 1.5–4.6 cm, ovate to narrowly ovate, widest in the basal third, membranous or chartaceous, strongly discolorous, the upper surfaces evenly pubescent on veins and lamina, the trichomes to 2 mm long, simple, uniseriate, arising from expanded bases giving the lamina surface a tuberculate appearance, the lower surfaces densely and evenly pubescent with simple uniseriate trichomes to 2 mm, these 2-3-celled with the basal cell largest, denser on the veins; primary veins 7–9 pairs, impressed above in herbarium specimens; base truncate or shallowly cordate; margins entire, not revolute; apex acute to acuminate; petioles 0.7–2 cm, densely pubescent with simple trichomes like those of the stems and leaves. Inflorescences terminal on leafy short shoots, 3–15 cm long, globose to ellipsoid in outline, branching many times, with 2 principal basal branches, with 12–60 flowers, densely pubescent with simple trichomes; peduncle 0.5–3 cm, the branching very near the junction with the stem; pedicels 0.5–0.8 cm ,, 0.5 mm in diameter at the base and apex, pubescent with 1-2-celled simple trichomes to 1.5 mm long, spreading at anthesis, articulated near the base from a small sleeve, leaving a small peg on the axis; pedicel scars irregularly spaced 1– 10 mm apart, the inflorescence rachis bending at almost right angles at articulation points. Buds narrowly ellipsoid, the corolla strongly exserted from the calyx tube. Flowers all perfect, 5- merous; calyx tube ca. 2 mm, conical, the lobes 0.5–1 mm, deltate to broadly deltate, pubescent with simple trichomes, these sparser than on the rest of the inflorescence; corolla 1.2–1.7 cm in diameter, white, pink or ‘‘pale blue’’ (violet?), narrowly stellate, lobed nearly to the base, the lobes 6–7× 1.5–2 mm, reflexed at anthesis, glabrous adaxially, densely pubescent abaxially with weak simple papillate trichomes to 0.5 mm long, these denser on tips and margins; filament tube, 0.5 mm, the free portion of the filaments ca. 0.5 mm, glabrous; anthers 4–4.5 x ca. 1 mm, yellow, ellipsoid, poricidal at the tips, the pores lengthening to slits with age; ovary glabrous; style 5–6 mm long, pubescent with weak simple trichomes to 0.5 mm, more densely pubescent in the basal half; stigma capitate-truncate, the surface minutely papillose. Fruit a globose berry, ca. 1.3 cm in diameter (immature?), green or yellowish green, the pericarp thin and shiny, glabrous; fruiting pedicels 0.9–1 cm, 1–1.5 mm in diameter at the base, woody and spreading. Seeds not seen from mature berries, apparently 10+ per berry and flattened reniform.

Distribution. Solanum aspersum occurs in widely separated and isolated populations along the Andes from central Ecuador into Colombia in both the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Central, from 1600 to 2500 m.

Etymology. The specific epithet refers to the few and scattered collections of this species (aspersus = scattered) along the Andes from Ecuador to Colombia that have been subsumed in the more common Solanum aureum .

Preliminary conservation status. Although known from very few herbarium specimens, S. aspersum has a wide distribution, and is possibly more common in its total range than currently known.

Additional specimens examined. COLOMBIA. Antioquia: Mun. Urrao, between Urrao and Caicedo , 21 km E of Urrao, near high point on road , 6 ° 249N, 76 ° 029W, 27 Feb 1989, MacDougal et al. 4251 ( MO) . Cundinamarca: 17 Feb 1950, von Sneidern 5825 ( S) . ECUADOR. Napo: Parroquia Cosanga, 6 kms de la carretera Cosanga-El Aliso , 23 Aug 1990, Jaramillo et al. 12110 ( MO) . Canton Quijos, Río Aliso , 8 km al suroeste de Cosanga , 0 ° 379S, 77 ° 569W, 15 Nov 1998, Vargas et al. 3043 ( MO) . Pichincha: km 59 de la carretera antigua Quito-Santo Domingo de los Colorados, a 3.5 km al NE de la carretera, 28 Mar 1987, Zak 1857 A ( F, MO) .

The few specimens of Solanum aspersum have usually been annotated as the more common and widely distributed S. aureum Dunal , also from Andean Ecuador. Solanum aspersum differs from that species in its simple uniseriate, rather than congesteddendritic pubescence ( Fig 1A ), and in the elongate buds that open to deeply stellate flowers ( Fig. 1B, C ). Specimens of S. aureum from Azuay province in Ecuador have similarly shiny adaxial leaf surfaces to S. aspersum , but always have the characteristic golden dendritic pubescence of that species rather than the simple pubescence of S. aspersum . The leaves of S. aspersum are usually more cordate than those of S. aureum , but some populations of S. aureum approach S. aspersum in overall leaf morphology at first glance. Solanum aspersum has a very scattered distribution all along the Andes from northern Colombia to central Ecuador and is likely to be found in more of the intervening parts of the cordilleras, but it is apparently rare and easily overlooked.

Figures

Figure 1. Solanum aspersum. A) portion of stem, with details of trichomes, B) young bud, C) open flower, D) fruiting inflorescence, E) young fruit. A–C drawn from MacDougal et al. 4251, D–E from Zak 1857A. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010502.g001