Lycianthes moziniana (Dunal) Bitter var. oaxacana E.Dean, Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 145: 415. 2004

Dean, Ellen, Poore, Jennifer, Anguiano-Constante, Marco Antonio, Nee, Michael H., Kang, Hannah, Starbuck, Thomas, Rodrigues, Annamarie & Conner, Matthew, 2020, The genus Lycianthes (Solanaceae, Capsiceae) in Mexico and Guatemala, PhytoKeys 168, pp. 1-333 : 1

30c Lycianthes moziniana (Dunal) Bitter var. oaxacana E.Dean, Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 145: 415. 2004 Fig. 70

Type.

Mexico. Oaxaca: Mpio. Santa María Jaltianguis, along hwy 175, ca. 5.0-7.2 rd mi N of Ixtlán de Juárez, N of turnoff to Sta. María Jaltianguis, W side of road, downslope along footpaths, 2439 m, 11 Oct 1991, E. Dean 285 (holotype: DAV [DAV172076]; isotypes: NY [00687932], XAL [XAL0106697]).

Description.

Perennial herb from fusiform roots, usually erect, ca. 0.1-0.4 m tall, dying back each season. Indument of white, uniseriate, multicellular, simple, eglandular, spreading to appressed trichomes 0.1-1 mm long, these often of two distinct lengths, the shorter more numerous, 0.1-0.25 mm long and appressed retrorse, the longer less numerous, 0.5-1 mm long and spreading, some populations lacking the longer trichomes. Stems green to purple-green, sparsely to moderately pubescent, only the youngest stems compressed and ribbed when dried in a plant press, woody with age; first stem 2.5-25 cm long to the first inflorescence, internodes 3-8, the first sympodial branching point dichasial or monochasial, the subsequent sympodial branching points monochasial. Leaves simple, those of the upper sympodia usually paired and unequal in size, the larger ones with blades 2.5-7 × 1.5-3.5 cm, the smaller ones with blades 3/4 the size of the larger, the leaf pairs similar in shape, the blades ovate to obovate, chartaceous, the primary veins 4-6 on either side of the midvein, the base rounded to cuneate to shortly attenuate onto the petiole, the margin entire, usually irregularly undulate, the apex acute to acuminate, the petioles 0.5-1.5 cm long, sometimes absent. Flowers solitary, axillary, oriented horizontally; peduncles absent; pedicels 50-140 mm and erect in flower, 50-90 mm long (probably longer) and deflexed in fruit, sparsely to moderately pubescent with trichomes of two distinct lengths, the smaller 0.1-0.25 mm long and appressed-retrorse, the longer 0.5-1 mm long and spreading; calyx 4-5 mm long, 4-5.5 mm in diameter, campanulate, the ribs pubescent with spreading trichomes, the margin truncate, with 10 linear, slightly spreading appendages 2-10 mm long emerging ca. 0.5 mm below the calyx rim; fruiting calyx enlarged, 5.5-9 mm long, 11-15 mm diameter, the appendages spreading slightly, not lax, often broken, 7-10 mm long; corolla 1.2-2.3 cm long (2.3-4.5 cm in diameter), rotate in orientation, mostly entire in outline (with shallow notches), with abundant interpetalar tissue, lilac, with darker purple stripes along the major veins adaxially, green and moderately pubescent near the major veins abaxially; stamens unequal, straight, the filaments unequal, the two shortest filaments 1.5-3 mm long, the two medium filaments 2-3.5 mm long, the one long filament 3-5.5 mm long, the length of the longest filament 1.5-2 times the length of the medium filaments, glabrous; anthers 4-5.5 mm, ovate, free of one another, yellow, glabrous, poricidal at the tips, the pores ovate, dehiscing distally, not opening into longitudinal slits; pollen grains tricolporate; pistil with glabrous ovary, the style 8-12 mm, linear, straight to slightly curved, glabrous, the stigma round. Fruit a berry, remaining attached to calyx at maturity, pendent, 22-28 mm long, 13-17 mm diameter, ovoid, the exocarp green, glabrous, the mesocarp and placental area soft and juicy, lacking sclerotic granules, the placental area soft and juicy. Seeds ca. 50-90 per fruit per fruit, 2.3-2.8 × 1.7-2.5 mm, rounded, slightly compressed, reniform to depressed-obovate, brownish-black, the surface reticulum with minute serpentine pattern and shallow luminae.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Distribution and habitat.

Mexico (Oaxaca), in oak, oak-pine, and pine forest, typically found in anthropogenically disturbed habitats such as roadsides, pastures, old fields and corn fields, 2100-2900 m in elevation (Fig. 71 ).

Common names and uses.

Mexico. Oaxaca: chichi de venado ( Dean 2004).

Phenology.

Flowering specimens have been collected June to July; specimens with mature fruits have been collected in October. The first author observed in the field that the corollas open in the very early morning and close by late morning. The pollen of this variety has a sweet scent.

Preliminary conservation status.

Lycianthes moziniana var. oaxacana is an uncommon variety of Oaxaca, Mexico, represented by 19 collections, none of which are from protected areas. The EOO is 12,876.905 km2, and the AOO is 72 km2. Based on the IUCN (2019) criteria, the preliminary assessment category is Vulnerable (VU).

Discussion.

Lycianthes moziniana var. oaxacana differs from var. moziniana in having spreading calyx appendages in fruit and in having attenuate leaf bases. It is closely related to L. moziniana var. margaretiana (a northern variety found in the Sierra Madre Oriental) based on unpublished DNA sequence data, however it differs from var. margaretiana in lacking tan or purple blotches on the fruit exocarp, not having a purple, powdery placental area, and in always having glabrous stamen filaments ( Dean 2004). This variety was described from the Sierra de Juárez in Oaxaca. Since that time, many more populations of L. moziniana var. oaxacana have been discovered in Oaxaca, and it is possible that some of them are the more widespread var. moziniana . Lycianthes moziniana var. oaxacana is similar to L. ciliolata , with which it overlaps in distribution. It differs from L. ciliolata in having pubescence on the abaxial side of the corolla lobes (versus no pubescence), having the length of the longest stamen filament 1.5-2 times the length of the medium filaments (vs 1.5-3 times), having trichomes of two distinct lengths on the pedicels (vs trichomes of one length), and having tricolporate pollen grains (vs grains with two pores and a remnant third pore) ( Dean 2004).

Representative specimen examined.

Mexico. Oaxaca: Llano de las flores, on the Oaxaca-Valle Nacional Highway, 20 km E of Ixtlán, 2870 m, 22 Jul 1960, J. Beaman 3703 (GH, LL).

Figures

Figure 70. Image of herbarium specimen of L. moziniana var. oaxacana, Cervantes 220 (DAV). Image used with permission of the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity.

Figure 71. Map of geographic distribution of L. moziniana var. oaxacana based on herbarium specimen data.