Solanum luculentum C.V.Morton ex S.Knapp, 2010

Knapp, Sandra, 2010, Four New Vining Species of Solanum (Dulcamaroid Clade) from Montane Habitats in Tropical America, PLoS ONE 5 (5), pp. 1-8 : 3-5

Solanum luculentum C.V.Morton ex S.Knapp , sp. nov.

[urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77103634-1] Type: Colombia. Antioquia: Mpio. Sonsón, Vereda Manzanares , Finca La Montañita , Cerro de la Vieja , páramo de Sonsón , 2600–3100 m, 11 Jan 1995, J. Betancur & S.P. Churchill 5912 (holotype, COL [ COL000057871 ] ; isotype, HUA) .

Figure 2 .

Species Solano dichroandro Dunal similis, sed corticibus exfoliatis, foliis glabris nitidis, floribus heterostylibus (unisexualibus?), differt.

Woody vines or lianas, occasionally apparently epiphytic, to 6 m; stems glabrous and shiny; new growth almost completely glabrous, with extremely sparse pubescence of minute, golden multiseriate trichomes, 0.5 mm long; bark of older stems pale tan and markedly exfoliating (‘‘shreddy’’ fide Nee & Callejas 32546). Sympodial units plurifoliate. Leaves simple, 2–11×0.l7– 5 cm, elliptic to narrowly elliptic, coriaceous, the upper surfaces glabrous and shiny, the veins not apparent, the lower surfaces glabrous, the veins yellowish cream; primary veins 5–7 pairs, prominent below, obscure above; base cuneate to acute to truncate and occasionally slightly cordate; margins entire, strongly revolute in both dry and live (fide Steyermark et al. 100777) plants; apex acute or occasionally long acuminate; petioles 0.7–3 cm, glabrous or with a few scattered glandular papillae, wrinkly when dry. Inflorescences terminal, 3–11 cm long, more or less ellipsoid in outline, many times branched, with 20–50 flowers, glabrous; peduncle 0.5–2 cm long, branching from very near the base; pedicels 1.2–1.5 cm, slender, ca. 0.5 mm in diameter at the base, ca. 1 mm in diameter at the apex, glabrous, apparently somewhat erect at anthesis, articulated just above the base, leaving a prominent swelling on the axis; pedicel scars irregular spaced 2–10 mm apart. Buds globose, becoming ellipsoid to turbinate, the corolla strongly exserted from the calyx tube early in expansion. Flowers heterstylous, 5-merous, the plants probably dioecious, long-styled and short-styled flowers on different plants but of similar overall morphology; calyx tube 1.5–2 mm, conical, the lobes 0.5–1 mm, broadly deltate, glabrous with the tips minutely papillate; corolla 1.5–1.7 cm in diameter, white or occasionally tinged with lavender, stellate, lobed 2/3 to 3/4 of the way to the base, the lobes 6–7× 3–4 mm, planar at anthesis, densely papillose on tips and margins with golden simple trichomes, these occasionally extending along the midvein of the abaxial surface; filament tube minute, the free portion of the filaments ca. 1 mm, glabrous; anthers of long-styled flowers ca. 4× 1 mm, occasionally slightly shrivelled, those of short-styled flowers ca. 5× 1.5 mm, yellow, ellipsoid to pointed ellipsoid, poridical at the tips, the pores with thickened margins and lengthening to slits with age; ovary glabrous, vestigial in short-styled flowers; style in long-styled flowers 5–6 mm, exserted beyond the anthers, glabrous, in shortstyled flowers 2.5–3 mm, included in the anther tube, glabrous; stigma clavate, the surface densely papillose in long-styled flowers. Fruit a globose berry, to 2 cm in diameter, green (immature?), the pericarp quite thin but not markedly shiny; fruiting pedicels 1.5– 2 cm, ca. 2–3 mm in diameter at the apex, woody and nodding. Seeds 10–12 per berry, 6–8× 4–6 mm, flattened reniform, pale tan, the surfaces minutely pitted, the testal cells rectangular at the margins, deeply sinuate with rib-like thickenings on the lateral walls in the seed center.

Distribution. Solanum luculentum occurs in the Andes of Colombia (Depts. Antioquia, Cundinamarca and Nariño) and Venezuela (from the Colombian border to the Federal District around Caracas) in cloud forests from 1500 to 3200 m.

Etymology. The epithet, taken from annotations by the solanologist Conrad V. Morton on sheets in US, refers to the extremely shiny upper surfaces of the leaves (luculentus = full of light, splendid).

Preliminary conservation status. Solanum luculentum is widely distributed across northern South America and appears to be relatively common where it does occur, but the extent of damage to its cloud forest habitat needs assessment. It should be considered not threatened at present.

Additional specimens examined. COLOMBIA. Antioquia: Mun. Caldas, Vereda La Corrala, al lado del camino al la cascada, 21 Sep 1987, Albert de Escobar et al. 7939 ( MO) ; sin. loc., 28 Dec 1930, Archer 1153 ( US,) 1 Jan 1931, Archer 1227 ( US) ; en los alrededores [de Medellín], 21 Aug 1948, Barkley & Johnson 264 ( US) ; near Medellín, Bros. Daniel & Arsènio 3486 ( US) ; La Ceja, 21 Jul 1944, Bro. Daniel 3281 ( US) ; midway between Medellín and Río Negro, 6 ° 05 9N, 75 ° 25 9W, 8 Jul 1986, Nee & Callejas 32456 ( US) ; Mun. Salgar, km 15 of road Salgar-Hacienda El Dauro (Dpto. Chocó), 5 ° 59 9N, 76 ° 06 9W, 14 Mar 1987, Zarucchi & Echeverri 4753 ( K) ; Mun. Jardín, km 20 of road Jardín-Riosucio (Dept. Caldas), ca. 15 km SSE of Jardín, 5 ° 319N, 75 ° 489W, 29 Oct 1988, Zarucchi et al. 6928 ( K) . Boyacá: Cordillera Oriental, near Laguna Seca in valley of Río de los Pajaros , 26 Aug 1957, Grubb et al. 737a ( K) . Cundinamarca: carretera a Fusagasugá, 9 May 1949, GarcíaBarriga 13335 ( US) . Santander: in vicinity [of Santander], 21 Dec 1926, Killip & Smith 15952 ( US) . VENEZUELA. Aragua: sin. loc., 1856, Fendler 2099 ( GOET, K, MO) ; 4 km SW by air, on road to Capachal 2 km east from road between Colonia Tovar and La Victoria, 10 ° 229N, 67 ° 199W, 7 Apr 1982, Liesner & Medina 13496 ( MO) . Distrito Federal: Dept. Libertador, a lo largo del camino Costa de Maya , noroeste de la Colonia Tovar, 3–5 kms desde la carretera principal La Victoria-Colonia Tovar, 10 ° 259N, 67 ° 209050 W, 9 Dec 1982, Steyermark et al. 127855 ( MO) . Tachira: cabeceras del Río Quinimari, entre el pié del peñasco de la Peña de Pata de Judio (debajo del páramo del Judio), y el pié del salto de Chorrejón de la Mota de la Peña de Ventana, arriba de Las Copas, 18–20 kms al sur de San Vicente de la Revancha, 32–35 kms al sur de Alquitrana , suroeste de Santa Ana , 12 Jan 1968, Steyermark et al. 100777 ( US) .

Solanum luculentum was identified as a new species by the Solanaceae specialist ConradV. Morton in the 1940s on herbarium annotation slips on specimens in US (Archer 1153, 1227), but the very appropriate name was never published. I have decided to use it here, as it perfectly describes the distinguishing characteristic of this species, its coriaceous, lustrous and shining leaves ( Fig. 2 B ). Solanum luculentum has long been confused with S. dichroandrum Dunal , another vining species from northern South America, but differs from that in its completely glabrous leaves and inflorescences, revolute leaf margins and heterostylous flowers.

Specimens of S. luculentum , to my knowledge, either bear shortstyled flowers and no fruits or long-styled flowers and fruits (see Fig. 2D, E, F ); this is indicative of a dioecious species of Solanum , one of very few outside the Leptostemonum clade [ 14], and the first record for this breeding system in the Dulcamaroid clade. Field confirmation of the breeding system of S. luculentum will be interesting; pollen of this species has not yet been examined to ascertain if it is inaperturate, as is pollen of other dioecious solanums [ 14].

Figures

Figure 2. Solanum luculentum. A) portion of stem with flowering inflorescence, B) detail of stem with peeling bark, C) buds, D) open long-styled flower with anthers removed, E) long-styled flower cross-section, F) anthers, G) short-styled flower cross-section, H) fruiting inflorescence from putatively pistillate individual. A–B drawn from Nee & Callejas 32546, C–F from Steyermark et al. 127855, G from Steyermark & Dunsterville 100777, H from Killip & Smith 15952. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010502.g002