Solanum alliariifolium M.Nee & Saerkinen , PhytoKeys 47: 99. 2015.

Knapp, Sandra, Saerkinen, Tiina & Barboza, Gloria E., 2023, A revision of the South American species of the Morelloid clade (Solanum L., Solanaceae), PhytoKeys 231, pp. 1-342 : 1

2. Solanum alliariifolium M.Nee & Saerkinen, PhytoKeys 47: 99. 2015.

Figs 9 , 10

Type.

Bolivia. Santa Cruz: Prov. Vallegrande: 6.5 km by air SW of Guadalupe on road to Pucará, at turnoff to Santa Ana , 18°36'S, 64°07'W, 2,675 m, 15 Dec 1990, M. Nee 40315 (holotype: LPB; isotypes: MO [MO-2537105, acc. # 6458011], NY [00852828], USZ) .

Description.

Slender perennial herb to 0.3 m high, with multiple long, creeping stems arising from a central taproot, stems up to 50 cm long, rooting at nodes. Stems terete, glabrous or sparsely pubescent with spreading translucent 4-6-celled simple uniseriate trichomes ca. 0.2 mm long. Sympodial units difoliate, not geminate. Leaves simple, the blades 1.5-3.6 cm long, 0.9-2.3 cm wide, broadly ovate to orbicular, widest at the middle or in the lower third, membranous, concolorous; adaxial surface glabrous; abaxial surface glabrous or sparsely pubescent with appressed 1-3-celled simple uniseriate trichomes along veins and leaf margins; principal veins 3-4 pairs; base rounded to attenuate, occasionally decurrent; margins entire, undulate, or shallowly lobed; apex acute; petiole 0.7-1.5 cm long, sparsely pubescent with simple 1-3-celled uniseriate trichomes like those of the stems, especially on young leaves. Inflorescences opposite the leaves, unbranched, 1.5-3 cm long, with 2-6 flowers, sparsely pubescent with simple uniseriate 4-6-celled spreading trichomes; peduncle 1-3 cm long, 0.4-0.5 mm in diameter at the apex and 0.6 mm in diameter at the base; pedicels 0.6-0.9 cm long, ca. 0.4 mm in diameter at the base and ca. 0.5 mm in diameter at the apex, straight and spreading at anthesis, articulated at the base; pedicel scars spaced 0.2-1.5 mm apart. Buds globose, white or purple-tinged. Flowers 5-merous, cosexual (hermaphroditic). Calyx tube ca. 1.4-1.5 mm long, the lobes 1.6-2 mm long, rectangular in outline with rounded to acute apices, somewhat spreading at anthesis, sparsely pubescent with simple 1-4-celled uniseriate trichomes. Corolla 1.4-1.6 cm in diameter, white to pale or deep violet-blue, with a dark purple ring against yellow-green central star at the base, stellate, lobed to the middle, the lobes ca. 4-5 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide, reflexed at anthesis, densely pubescent abaxially with 1-2-celled simple uniseriate trichomes, these usually shorter than the trichomes of stems and leaves. Stamens equal; filament tube minute; free portion of the filaments 1.1-1.6 mm long, pubescent with 4-7-celled uniseriate trichomes at the base adaxially; anthers 3.5-4 mm long, 0.8-1 mm wide, ellipsoid to rectangular in outline, yellow, poricidal at the tips, the pores lengthening to slits with age. Ovary globose, glabrous; style 5-6 mm long, straight, exserted beyond the anther cone, densely pubescent with 2-3-celled simple uniseriate trichomes in the basal 2/3; stigma clavate, minutely papillate. Fruit a globose berry, 0.4-0.5 cm in diameter, green when developing, mature berries unknown, the pericarp thin, matte, opaque, glabrous; fruiting pedicels 1.1-3.2 cm long, ca. 0.4 mm in diameter at the base, ca. 0.6 mm in diameter at the apex, spreading, becoming somewhat woody, not persistent; fruiting calyx lobes 2.8-3.2 mm long, spreading. Seeds (10)15-20 per berry, ca. 1.5-1.7 mm long, ca. 1.2-1.3 mm wide, flattened, reniform, pale-brown, the sub-lateral hilum positioned close to the middle, the testal cells pentagonal in outline. Stone cells ca. 2 per berry, ca. 0.5 mm in diameter, cream-coloured. Chromosome number: not known.

Distribution

(Fig. 11 ). Solanum alliariifolium is endemic to the eastern Bolivian Andes (Depts. Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz).

Ecology and habitat.

Solanum alliariifolium is found in montane forests with Podocarpus parlatorei Pilg. ( Podocarpaceae ) and Alnus acuminata Kunth ( Betulaceae ) often in open areas close to water sources, near rivers and moist depressions, and marshy meadows on sandy or rocky substrate, between 1,900 and 3,200 m elevation.

Common names and uses.

None recorded.

Preliminary threat status

( IUCN 2022). Vulnerable [VU - B1, 2a,b(ii, iv), D2]. EOO = 18,992 km2 [VU]; AOO 56 km2 [EN]. Särkinen et al. (2015c) also assigned a preliminary IUCN threat status of Vulnerable (VU, B1) to S. alliariifolium based on the small extent of occurrence. No occurrences are known within the protected area network in Bolivia thus far, but collection data indicate that the species endures grazing pressures relatively well. We have no additional data with which to change this initial assessment.

Discussion.

Solanum alliariifolium is distinct within the morelloids in being a slender creeping herb rooting along nodes, with broadly ovate to orbicular leaves with crenate to shallowly lobed margins. It is morphologically most similar to S. leptocaulon , which occurs in similar montane habitats in Bolivia and in southern Peru, but the latter species is a small scrambling shrublet with entire-margined, ovate-lanceolate leaves. Solanum leptocaulon further differs from S. alliariifolium in having a campanulate corolla lobed only 1/3 of the way to the base, rather than a stellate corolla lobed to 2/3 to the base with the lobes clearly reflexed at anthesis.

Figures

Figure 9. Solanum alliariifolium A habit B inflorescence with details of pubescence and ciliate leaf margins C flower just prior to anthesis, with and without corolla lobes removed D flower at anthesis E stamens F gynoecium G fruit (A-C, E-G Nee 40315 D Vargas 787). Illustration by B. Angell. Previously published in Saerkinen et al. (2015 d: 100).

Figure 10. Solanum alliariifolium A habitat B habit C flowering and fruiting branch D creeping stem rooting along nodes (A-C Nee & Wen 53903 D Ochoa 12022 [US 02999214, acc. # 2982650], reproduced with permission of the Smithsonian Institution). Photos of live plants and habitat by M. Nee.

Figure 11. Distribution map of Solanum alliariifolium.