Solanum leprosum Ortega, 1800

Knapp, Sandra, 2013, Typification of Solanum species (Solanaceae) described by Casimiro Gómez Ortega, Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid 70 (1), pp. 56-61 : 59

Solanum leprosum Ortega , Nov. Pl. Descr. Dec. 115. 1800

Ind. loc.: “ Habitat in Regno Chilensi. Floret in Horto R. Matrit. Septembri et Octobri è seminibus missis per D. Neè ”.

Neotype, designated here: MA 334600 ; possible isotypes MA 334600/2, MA 334600/3.

Current accepted name: Solanum elaeagnifolium Cav.

I found several sheets filed as S. leprosum in MA (MA 334600, MA 334584, MA 3334600/2, MA 334600/3); of these only MA 334600 (the 3 sheets) are potential neotype material, as MA 334584 does not match the protologue in being from Mexico (“Nee iter, Nueva Espana”) and being non-prickly version (prickles are mentioned in the protologue). The three sheets of MA 334600 are probably from the same plant; their morphology is all very similar. All are labelled as S. leprosum Ortega ; MA 334600/2 with “ Solanum leprosum Ortega, Ex. Hort. Matri. 1800 ” in the hand of José Demetrio Rodriguez, MA 334600/3 as “ Solanum leprosum Ortega decade/” in an unknown hand, and MA 334600 as “ Solanum leprosum Ortega ” in what is probably the hand of Rodriguez, but without a date. MA 334600 is the best preserved sheet and has a bud and two flowers clearly showing the declinate style mentioned in the protologue and is chosen here as the neotype ( Fig. 1c ). All of these specimens are clearly identifiable as S. elaeagnifolium , described by Cavanilles five years earlier, also from material collected in Chile by Luis Née, the botanist on the Malaspina Expedition (1789-1794; Muñoz Garmendia, 1992) that circumnavigated the globe and sent many novelties back to Spain for cultivation in the Jardín Botánico.

Figures

Fig. 1. a, neotype of Solanum cymosum Ortega (=Solanum lanceolatum Cav.) (MA 476353); b, neotype of Solanum ficifolium Ortega (= Solanum ferrugineum Jacq.) (MA 334586); c, neotype of Solanum leprosum Ortega (=Solanum elaeagnifolium Cav.) (MA 334600); d, neotype of Solanum subbiflorum Ortega (=Solanum capense L.) (MA308482).