Lycianthes multifolia (Merr. & L.M.Perry) A.R. Bean, Austrobaileya 6(3): 567. 2003.

Knapp, Sandra, 2022, A revision of Lycianthes (Solanaceae) in Australia, New Guinea, and the Pacific, PhytoKeys 209, pp. 1-134 : 1

11. Lycianthes multifolia (Merr. & L.M.Perry) A.R. Bean, Austrobaileya 6(3): 567. 2003.

Figs 34 , 35

Solanum multifolium Merr. & L.M. Perry, J. Arnold Arb. 30: 50. 1949. Type. Indonesia. Papua: 6 km SW of Bernhard Camp, Idenburg River, 1,150 m, Feb 1939, L.J. Brass 12907 (holotype: A [00077835]: isotypes: BM [BM000778109] BRI [AQ0022668], L [L0003646], LAE [acc. # 6546, acc. # 229594]).

Type.

Based on Solanum multifolium Merr. & L.M. Perry

Description.

Slender spindly shrubs 0.8-3 m tall,; stems terete, densely pubescent with stiff, antrorse 1-4-celled simple uniseriate trichomes 0.2-0.7 mm long, these persistent; new growth moderately pubescent with antrorse simple uniseriate trichomes like those of the stems, these denser along the leaf veins; bark of older stems pale tan, not markedly glabrescent. Sympodial units di- or trifoliate, the leaves geminate or with several leaves at a node, the leaves at a node differing in size but not in shape. Leaves simple; blades of major leaves 5.2-9(12) cm long, 1.5-3(5) cm wide, narrowly elliptic or less commonly elliptic, widest at the middle, discolorous, membranous; adaxial surfaces glabrous or with a few antrorse simple uniseriate trichomes along the midrib and scattered stiff 2-3-celled trichomes on the lamina; abaxial surfaces similar; principal veins 6-7 pairs, the midrib keeled above; base acute to attenuate; margins entire; apex acuminate; petiole 0.3-0.6 cm long, sparsely pubescent with trichomes like those of the stems; blades of minor leaves 1-4 cm long, 0.7-2.2 cm wide, similar in shape, texture and pubescence to the major leaves; base attenuate; margins entire; apex acute to acuminate; petiole 0.2-0.5 cm long, sparsely pubescent. Inflorescences axillary fascicles of 3 flowers, only one flower open at a time, pubescent like the stems; pedicels at anthesis 0.7-0.75 cm long, ca. 0.5 mm in diameter at the base, ca. 1 mm in diameter at the apex, slender and nodding, glabrous or with a very few simple uniseriate trichomes near the base, markedly less pubescent than the stems, articulated at the base; pedicel scars tightly packed in the leaf axils. Buds narrowly ellipsoid, the corolla strongly exserted from the calyx tube long before anthesis. Flowers 5-merous, perhaps heterostylous, the one flowering specimen (Kalkman B.W. 3479) with all short-styled flowers. Calyx tube ca. 2 mm long, ca. 3 mm wide, open cup-shaped, winged or ridged from the veins, translucent and papery, glabrous except for a few simple uniseriate trichomes ca. 0.2 mm long, with 5 tiny nub-like appendages less than 0.5 mm long arising from very close to or at the rim. Corolla 1-4-1.6 cm in diameter, white, deeply stellate, lobed nearly to the base, interpetalar tissue present, the lobes 6-7 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, spreading, membranous, glabrous on both surfaces, but the attenuate tip densely papillate. Stamens equal; filament tube minute; free portion of the filaments 0.75-1 mm long, glabrous; anthers ca. 1 mm long, 1.1-1.25 mm wide, ellipsoid and slightly tapering at the tips, yellow, poricidal at the tips, the pores round, directed distally, not elongating with age. Ovary and style not seen in short-styled flowers. Fruit a globose berry, ca. 0.8 cm in diameter, red when ripe, the pericarp glabrous, thin, shiny, translucent; fruiting pedicels 1.4-1.5 cm long, ca. 0.75 mm in diameter at the base, ca. 1.25 mm in diameter at the apex, not markedly woody, orientation not known; fruiting calyx a spreading saucer at the base of the fruit, not markedly woody or rugose. Seeds 10-20 per berry, 4-4.5 mm long, 2.5-3 mm wide, flattened reniform, reddish brown, the surfaces deeply pitted, the testal cells pentagonal in outline. Stone cells absent. Chromosome number not known.

Distribution

(Fig. 36 ). Lycianthes multifolia is endemic to the island of New Guinea; found in Papua New Guinea (Sanduan) and Indonesia (Papua).

Ecology and habitat.

Lycianthes multifolia grows in rainforests from 50 to 1,150 m elevation.

Common names.

None recorded.

Preliminary conservation assessment

( IUCN 2020). EOO (1,954 km2 - EN); AOO (12 km2 - EN). Lycianthes multifolia is known from only two widely separated localities; it clearly merits a threat status of Endangered (EN [B1,2a, b(iii, iv)]). The lowland forests where it occurs are within land use concessions ( Parsch et al. 2022) in Indonesian Papua.

Discussion.

Lycianthes multifolia is similar morphologically to L. belensis but has smaller flowers (1.4-1.6 cm versus ca. 2.4 cm in diameter). In addition, the calyx of L. multifolia is relatively strongly winged or angled at the veins and has appendages arising from very near the rim, rather than from ca. 0.75 mm below the rim as in L. belensis . In general L. multifolia is a more delicate plant than many other New Guinea Lycianthes . The species name comes from the several leaves at each node seen on the type collection, however, Kalkman BW-3479 has clearly difoliate geminate sympodial units. It is not clear how consistent leaf number per node is across the range of L. multifolia as there are very few collections.

Specimens examined.

Indonesia. Papua: Res. Hollandia [Jayapura], Nemo , 5 m, 1 Apr 1956, Kalkman BW-3479 (A, K, L, LAE) .

Papua New Guinea. Sanduan: near Daunda Bridge, Bewani Highway , subdistrict Vainimo , West Sepik, 120 m, 9 Sep 1977, Wiakabu & Mamalai LAE-70476 (A, E, K, LAE) .

Figures

Figure 34. Lycianthes multifolia (Merr. & L. M. Perry) A. R. Bean. Drawing by M. L. Szent-Ivany, first published in Symon (1985: fig. 16, as S. multifolium Merr. & L. M. Perry). Courtesy of the Board of the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium (Adelaide, South Australia), reproduced with permission.

Figure 35. Lycianthes multifolia herbarium specimen. Indonesia. Papua: Brass 12907 (isotype of S. multifolium, BM 000778109). Courtesy of the Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, reproduced with permission.

Figure 36. Distribution of Lycianthes multifolia.