Lycianthes rantonnetii (Carrière) Bitter

Knapp, Sandra, 2024, A revision of Lycianthes (Solanaceae) in tropical Asia, PhytoKeys 245, pp. 1-106 : 1-106

8. Lycianthes rantonnetii (Carrière) Bitter , Abh. Naturwiss. Vereins Bremen 24 [preprint]: 332. 1919.

Figs 4 E , 20

Solanum rantonnetii Carrière , Rev. Hort. [Paris] 32: 135. 1859, as “ rantonnei ”. Type. Cultivated in Paris (lectotype, designated by Dean et al. 2020, pg. 180: [illustration] Carrière, Rev. Hort. [Paris] 32: fig. 32. 1859).

Solanum corniculatum Hiern , Vidensk. Meddel. Naturhist. Foren. Kjobenhavn 1877–1878: 45. 1877, nom. illeg., not S. corniculatum Huber (1865) . Type. Brazil. Rio de Janeiro: sin. loc., 1867, A. Glaziou 1078 (lectotype, designated by Dean et al. 2020, pg. 180: C [C 10019192]; isolectotypes: BR [BR 00000552267, BR 00000552234], P [P 00325613, P 00325614, P 00430738]).

Solanum urbanum Morong , Ann. New York Acad. Sci. 7: 177. 1893. Type. Paraguay. Central: streets of Asunción, Nov 1888, T. Morong 147 (lectotype, designated by Barboza 2013, pg. 29: NY [00172225]; isolectotypes: MO [MO- 503602, acc. 2495263], NDG [NDG 45160], PH [00030498], US [0027939, acc. # 1324871], WIS [v 0004256 WIS]).

Solanum muticum N. E. Br. , Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 85: 6. 1894. Type. Uruguay. Montevideo: cultivated in Montevideo, originally from Paraguay, Mar 1858, E. J. Gibert 56 (lectotype, designated by Barboza 2013, pg. 29: K [K 000585755]).

Solanum urbanum Morong var. foliosum Chodat , Bull. Soc. Bot. Genève, ser. 2, 8: 152. 1916. Type. Paraguay. Paraguarí: Paraguary, Cerros de Paraguarí, Sep 1914, R. Chodat & W. Vischer 60 (lectotype, designated by Knapp 2022, pg. 93: G [G 00392293]).

Solanum urbanum Morong var. nervosum Chodat , Bull. Soc. Bot. Genève, ser. 2, 8: 152. 1916. Type. Paraguay. Paraguay. Cordillera: “ in valle fluminis Y-acá, pr [ope] Valenzuela ”, Jan 1900, É. Hassler 7024 (lectotype, designated by Dean et al. 2020, pg. 180: G [G 00390048]; isolectotypes: BM [BM 000087583], G [G 00392285, G 00392288, G 00392290], P [P 03852955], W [acc. # 1904-804]).

Solanum urbanum Morong var. subtomentosum Chodat , Bull. Soc. Bot. Genève, ser. 2, 8: 152. 1916. Type. Paraguay. Misiones: San Ignacio, Oct 1914, R. Chodat & W. Vischer 61 (lectotype, designated by Knapp 2022, pg. 93: G [G 00392295]).

Type.

Based on Solanum rantonnetii Carrière

Description.

Shrubs 0.5–3 m tall, with multiple stems from the base, these arching and sometimes scandent and sprawling; stems 3–4 - angled, the angles yellowish green in live plants and paler than the rest of the stem, sparsely to moderately pubescent with spreading transparent simple uniseriate 1–4 - celled trichomes to 0.5 mm long, these occasionally forked or dendritic, glabrescent with age; new growth moderately pubescent with transparent simple uniseriate or occasionally dendritic trichomes like those of the stems; bark of older stems pale greyish brown, prominently angled. Sympodial units unifoliate or more usually difoliate, the leaves usually geminate, if paired the leaves similar in shape and size. Leaves simple; blades of major leaves (1) 4–15.5 cm long, (0.5) 3.5–7.5 cm wide, ovate, rhombic-elliptic, elliptic or occasionally almost lanceolate, broadest in the upper half or rarely at the middle, membranous, concolorous; adaxial surfaces sparsely and evenly pubescent with 1–3 - celled simple uniseriate trichomes, these denser along the midrib; abaxial surfaces sparsely to moderately and evenly pubescent with 1–3 - celled simple uniseriate trichomes, these denser along the midrib; principal veins 3–7 pairs, more pubescent than the lamina. drying yellowish green abaxially; base attenuate onto the petiole; margins entire or somewhat undulate; apex acute to acuminate; petiole 0.5–2.4 (4) cm long, winged from the attenuate leaf base, pubescent with simple uniseriate (or occasionally dendritic) trichomes like those of the stems and leaves; blades of minor leaves similar in size and shape to those of the major leaves, or slightly smaller; petioles 0.5–3 cm long, winged. Inflorescences axillary fascicles with (1) 2–7 flowers, pubescent with transparent trichomes like those of the new growth and stems; pedicels 1.2–1.7 cm long, ca. 1 mm in diameter at the base, ca. 2 mm in diameter at the apex, spreading at anthesis, sparsely to moderately and evenly pubescent with transparent simple (occasionally dendritic) uniseriate 1–3 - celled trichomes like those of the stems, articulated at the base; pedicels scars tightly packed in the leaf axils. Buds ellipsoid to fusiform with pointed tips, the corolla more than halfway exserted from the calyx tube before anthesis. Flowers 5 - merous, all apparently cosexual. Calyx with the tube 1.5–4 mm long, 2.5–4.5 mm wide, openly cup-shaped, with (5) 10 linear subulate appendages of variable length 0.25–5.2 mm long, arising ca. 0.25–1 mm from the hyaline rim, usually alternating long and short, sparsely to moderately pubescent with simple trichomes like those of the pedicels. Corolla 1.2–2 cm in diameter, violet with the midveins dark purple and the centre yellow, rotate, lobed less than 1 / 10 of the way to the base, interpetalar tissue abundantly present, the lobes ca. 1 mm long, ca. 1 mm wide and mere acumens from the rotate corolla, glabrous on both surfaces except for the densely papillate, cucullate tips (acumens). Stamens unequal; filament tube minute; free portion of the filaments of two lengths, three long filaments 2–3 mm long, two short filaments 0.8–1.5 mm long, glabrous or adaxially pubescent with tangled weak-walled uniseriate simple trichomes; anthers ellipsoid and slightly curved, orange-yellow, glabrous, poricidal at the tips, the pores round, distally directed, not elongating to slits with age. Ovary conical, glabrous; style 3.5–5.5 mm long, slightly curved in the same direction as the anthers, glabrous; stigma slightly clavate and bilobed, the surface minutely papillate. Fruit a compressed-ellipsoid or compressed globose berry, 2–3 cm long, 1.3–1.5 cm in diameter (usually absent or smaller and seedless in cultivated plants), yellow or yellowish orange when mature, the pericarp glabrous, thin, shiny and translucent; fruiting pedicels 2.5–4 cm long, ca. 1.5 mm in diameter at the base, ca. 3 mm in diameter at the apex, somewhat woody, spreading or hanging from the weight of the berries; fruiting calyx a plate with the appendages somewhat longer than in flower, spreading and often broken off, stiff and woody. Seeds 20–100 per berry (many fewer in cultivated plants), 2–3.5 mm long, 1.5–3.5 mm wide, rounded and compressed, reddish tan, the surfaces minutely pitted, the testal cells with sinuate margins, “ hairy ” extensions of lateral testal cell walls absent. Stone cells more than 20 per berry, ca. 0.5–1.5 mm in diameter. Chromosome number: 2 n = 24 ( Gerasimenko and Reznikova 1968 [cited in D’Arcy 1974] as Solanum rantonnetii ; Acosta et al. 2005, as L. rantonnei , voucher Moscone 4260 [CORD]).

Distribution.

Lycianthes rantonnetii is widely cultivated in the tropics and subtropics (and even into the temperate zone as a short-lived perennial) worldwide. In this region I have only seen specimens from India and Pakistan. It is native to southern South America ( Argentina, Bolivia, southern Brazil and Paraguay).

Ecology and habitat.

In its native range L. rantonnetii is a plant of semi-moist, seasonal forests and open areas; from (sea level) 100 to 2,000 m elevation.

Common names.

In its native range in Argentina L. rantonnetii is called meloncillo del aire ( Barboza 2013).

Preliminary conservation assessment

( IUCN 2020). Not applicable to this species for this region.

Discussion.

Lycianthes rantonnetii is native to South America ( Barboza 2013) but widely cultivated in subtropical and temperate areas worldwide. It is the only species occurring in the region treated here that has stone cells in the berries, but in cultivation it rarely sets fruit. It can easily be distinguished from all native species by its rotate corollas with copious interpetalar tissue (Fig. 4 E ), orange-yellow anthers that are slightly curved and angled, and somewhat striped stems. Lycianthes rantonnetii has variable length calyx appendages like L. schizocalyx , but the two species are not easy to confuse; L. schizocalyx has small bright red berries without stone cells whereas L. rantonnetii rarely sets fruit in cultivation, but, when it does, the berries are dirty yellow and have copious stone cells. In Asia I have only seen specimens of L. rantonnetii from India and Pakistan, but I would expect it to be in cultivation anywhere in subtropical areas of Asia.

The specific epithet is often seen spelled “ rantonnei ” but is correctable to “ rantonnetii ” following Art. 60.9 of the ICN ( Turland et al. 2018: Ex. 31), which stipulates that epithets honouring persons where there is an intentional latinisation of the name that involves the omission of a terminal vowel or consonant are not permitted; the epithet in this case honours the French horticulturalist Barthélémy Victor Rantonnet so is correctable to “ rantonnetii ” even though Carrière (1859) originally spelled it “ rantonnei ” (using the latinisation Rantonneus).

Figures

Figure 4. Flowers of Lycianthes in Asia A L. banahaensis with tetramerous yellow flowers, note the stigma sitting almost within the anther tube (Rule s. n., Philippines; DOL 134710) B L. biflora with membranous corolla lobes and a minutely capitate stigma (Knapp et al. 10106, China) C L. laevis flower with green blotches at the base of the corolla lobes (Mustaqim s. n., Indonesia; DOL 207828) D L. parasitica flower with spreading corolla lobes and capitate stigma (Tandang s. n., Philippines; DOL 76576597) E L. rantonnetii rotate corolla with orange, slightly curved anthers (Stevenson s. n., cultivated in Mexico; DOL 183568) F L. shunningensis with very short reflexed calyx appendages and cucullate corolla lobe tips (Nuraliev et al. 2810, Vietnam). Photograph credits: A Greg Rule B Sandra Knapp C Wendy Mustaqim D Danilo Tandang; E Dennis Stevenson F Maxim Nuraliev. DOL numbers are identifiers from PhytoImages (https://phytoimages.siu.edu). Details of collecting localities can be found in Suppl. material 2.

Figure 20. Lycianthes rantonnetii (Carrière) Bitter herbarium specimen. Paraguay. Cordillera: Hassler 7024 (isolectotype of S. urbanum var. nervosum Chodat, BM 000087583) and Hassler 6728 (BM 000995242). Courtesy of the Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, reproduced with permission.