Lycianthes rostellata (Merr. & L.M. Perry) A.R.Bean, Austrobaileya 6(3): 568. 2003.

Knapp, Sandra, 2022, A revision of Lycianthes (Solanaceae) in Australia, New Guinea, and the Pacific, PhytoKeys 209, pp. 1-134 : 1

15. Lycianthes rostellata (Merr. & L.M. Perry) A.R.Bean, Austrobaileya 6(3): 568. 2003.

Figs 45 , 46

Solanum rostellatum Merr. & L.M.Perry, J. Arnold Arb. 30: 51. 1949. Type. Papua New Guinea. Central: East Mt. Tafa, Central Division, 2,100 m, May 1933, L.J. Brass 4135 (holotype: A [00077837]; isotypes: BRI [BRI-AQ0080376], L [L0003660], LAE [acc. # 229583], NY [00172292]).

Solanum pustulatum Symon, J. Adelaide Bot. Gard. 8: 58. 1985. Type. Papua New Guinea. Eastern Highlands: confluence of Warapuri and Warranaga Rivers, Wahgi-Jimi Divide north of Nondugl, Minj subdistrict, 2,134 m, 5 Sep 1963, P. van Royen NGF-18229 (holotype: BRI [AQ0080260]; isotypes: CANB [CANB135300], K [K000922492], L [L0403779], LAE [acc. # 58346]).

Lycianthes pustulata (Symon) A.R.Bean, Austrobaileya 6(3): 568. 2003. Type. Based on Solanum pustulatum Symon.

Type.

Based on Solanum rostellatum Merr. & L.M.Perry.

Description.

Shrubs or woody vines, 0.3-3 m tall (long); stems terete, densely pubescent with stiff, antrorse simple 4-5-celled uniseriate trichomes to 0.5 mm long, these sometimes from multicellular bases or the bases becoming enlarged with plant growth(i.e., remnants of multicellular bases on old stems but young stems without); new growth sparsely to densely pubescent with stiff simple uniseriate trichomes like those of the stems; bark of older stems brownish grey, glabrescent, corky and warty with persistent multicellular trichome bases. Sympodial units unifoliate (with deciduous minor leaves) or difoliate, the leaves geminate, the leaves of a pair different in size and shape. Leaves simple; blades of major leaves 7-12(17) cm long, 1-5 cm wide, elliptic or more commonly narrowly elliptic, widest at the middle, lower leaves on stems broader than distal ones, discolorous, thick and chartaceous (papery fide Takeuchi 11804), slightly bullate; adaxial surfaces shiny, glabrous, the veins deeply impressed; abaxial surfaces glabrous or with a few antrorse simple uniseriate trichomes like those of the stems along the midrib, sometimes purple-tinged (fide Womersley 4883); principal veins 4-6 pairs, impressed above, prominent below and occasionally sparsely pubescent; base acute; margins entire, revolute; apex abruptly attenuate to a long drip-tip; petioles 0.3-1.2 cm long, sparsely pubescent with antrorse simple uniseriate trichomes to ca. 0.5 mm long like those of the stems; blades of minor leaves 0.3-0.7 cm long, 0.3-0.7 cm wide, orbicular or somewhat heart-shaped, texture and pubescence like that of the major leaves, often deciduous especially on reproductive stems; base truncate or cordate; margins entire, revolute; apex rounded; petioles less than 0.1 cm long, sparsely pubescent. Inflorescences axillary fascicles of 2-4 flowers, usually only a single flower open at a time, densely pubescent like the stems with stiff antrorse simple uniseriate trichomes; pedicels at anthesis 0.8-1 cm long, ca. 0.5 mm in diameter at the base, 1-1.5 mm in diameter at the apex, erect (?) or spreading, sparsely pubescent with stiff antrorse simple trichomes like those of the stems, articulated at the base; pedicel scars tightly packed in the leaf axils. Buds long-ellipsoid, the corolla strongly exserted from the calyx tube just before anthesis, included in early buds. Flowers 5-merous (6-merous in Womersley 4883), apparently all perfect, heterostyly not observed. Calyx tube 2.5-3 mm long, 3-3.5 mm wide, cup-shaped, woody and stiff in dry material, perhaps fleshy in live plants, white or cream-colored, with no appendages, sparsely pubescent with stiff antrorse simple uniseriate trichomes ca. 0.5 mm long. Corolla 1.4-2 cm in diameter, white tinged with purple, purplish blue or purple, deeply stellate, lobed nearly to the base, interpetalar tissue absent, the lobes 8-10 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, reflexed or spreading, membranous/fleshy, glabrous on both surfaces, with minutely papillate tips and margins. Stamens equal; filament tube minute; free portion of the filaments 0.75-1 mm long, glabrous or with a few stiff simple uniseriate trichomes abaxially; anthers 5-6 mm long, ca. 1 mm wide, ellipsoid and somewhat tapering at the tips, yellow, poricidal at the tips, the pores round, distally directed, not elongating to slits with age. Ovary conical, glabrous; style 5.5-6 mm long, straight, glabrous (white fide Takeuchi 11804); stigma clavate, the surfaces minutely papillate. Fruit a globose berry, often apically umbonate, 0.7-0.8 cm in diameter, green or dark green (immature?), ripening purple-black, the pericarp thick and somewhat woody (fruits immature?), matte, opaque; fruiting pedicels 1.8-2.1 cm long, ca. 1 mm in diameter at the base, ca. 2 mm in diameter at the apex, erect or spreading, somewhat woody, the surfaces thickened and rugose; fruiting calyx a stiff, woody plate beneath the fruit, not enclosing the base. Seeds 60-80 per berry, 2-2.5 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, flattened reniform with a deep notch, yellowish golden, the surfaces deeply pitted, especially at the thickened margins, the testal cells pentagonal in outline with slightly sinuate walls. Stone cells absent. Chromosome number not known.

Distribution

(Fig. 47 ). Lycianthes rostellata is endemic to the island of New Guinea and is relatively widely distributed; it has only been collected in Papua New Guinea (Central, Eastern Highlands, Enga, Oro, Western Highlands).

Ecology and habitat.

Lycianthes rostellata grows in montane and submontane forests, as well as riverine regrowth forests, from 740-2,500 m elevation.

Common names.

Papua New Guinea: baga (Henty et al. NGF-41640)

Preliminary conservation assessment

( IUCN 2020). EOO (94,873 km2 - LC); AOO (84 km2 - EN). Lycianthes rostellata is known from more than 10 localities, some of which are within protected areas (e.g., Crater Mountain Wildlife Area). It is currently a single-country endemic. This suggests a preliminary threat status of either Least Concern (LC) or Near Threatened (NT).

Discussion.

Lycianthes rostellata is one of the larger-flowered species of Lycianthes on New Guinea. Like L. bambusarum , L. belensis and L. moszkowskii the corolla is ca. 2 cm in diameter; it can be distinguished from L. bambusarum by its pubescent rather than glabrous or minutely papillate new growth, and from L. belensis and L. moszkowskii by its stiff antrorse pubescence of trichomes with multicellular bases. Lycianthes belensis has soft, curled trichomes on the new growth, and L. moszkowskii has antrorse pubescence, but it is sparser than that of L. rostellata and the trichomes never have multicellular bases. Flower buds of L. rostellata are long-ellipsoid and pointed at the tips (the character upon which the specific epithet is based). Lycianthes shanesii of Australia has similar pointed buds, but the corolla lobes are wider relative to their length (2-3 times longer than wide) that are those of L. rostellata (4-5 times longer than wide) and the mature berries of L. shanesii are bright red, while those of L. rostellata are purple-black.

Plants named as Solanum pustulatum ( Symon 1985) represent an extreme in trichome morphology with prominent multicellular bases that persist after the uniseriate part of the trichome breaks off, but there is much variation in this character, from no to large multicellular bases as well as in the density of these types of trichomes. The specimen illustrated by Symon (1985: fig. 22,) has unusually wide leaves and persistent minor leaves, most collections of Lycianthes rostellata as circumscribed here have narrower, lance-elliptic leaves and the minor leaves are often deciduous with the sympodial units apparently unifoliate. Plants not in flower also appear to have wider leaves (Symon & Katik 10690, 10677), so there may be some change in leaf shape as stems reach reproductive phase (e.g., Roe 1966).

Specimens examined.

Papua New Guinea. Central: Boridi, 1,524 m, 3 Oct 1935, Carr 14357 (BM, K, NY); subdsitrict Port Moresby, east slope of Lake Myola No. 1, 1,920 m, 17 Sep 1973, Croft & Lelean NGF-34800 (E, K, L, LAE, MO, QRS, US); Efogi environs, Owen Stanley range,, 1830 m, 14 Sep 1970, Schodde 5705 (A, K, L, LAE); Murray Pass, near the summit, 2,650 m, 13 Jun 1984, Symon 13874 (K, L, LAE, MO); Murray Pass, near crest of pass, 2,800 m, 13 Jun 1984, Symon 13875 (K, L, LAE, MO); Murray Pass, "Mur Mur Pass", 2,700 m, 13 Jun 1984, Symon 13876 (K, L, LAE), Symon 13877 (K, L, LAE, MO). Eastern Highlands : above Fatima River , Marafuga, Sub-dist. Goroka, 2,100 m, 13 Nov 1968, Millar NGF-40737 (K, L, LAE); Daulo Pass, top of Daulo Pass, 2,320 m, 22 Jun 1977, Symon & Katik 10677 (K, L, LAE); near summit of Daulo, 22 Jun 1977, Symon 10678 (MO, US); Crater Mountain Wildlife Area , E of Haia village along Wara Sename, Chimbu (Simbu) province , Crater, 740 m, 16 Mar 1997, Takeuchi 11804 (K, L, LAE, US); Nondugl, Al River Valley , 2,134 m, 7 Apr 1953, Womersley 4883 (A, BM, K, L, LAE). Enga: between Mount Hagen and Wabog, 42 km from Mount Hagen , 29 km after turnoff to Wabog , 13 km before Waterfall Village , 2,520 m, 23 Jun 1977, Symon 10687 (K, L, LAE, MO); Wahgi-Sepik Divide, from Banz to Tabibunga, 4 km after crest and 39 km before Tabibunga, 27 Jun 1977, Symon 10704 (K, L, LAE, MO). Oro: Alola, 1,829 m, 4 Dec 1935, Carr 13611 (BM, K, NY), 1,981 m, 11 Dec 1933, Carr 13737 (K), 11 Dec 1935, Carr 13738 (BM, K, NY); eastern side lake Myola No. 1 ( Northern District ), Kokoda subdistrict, 2,000 m, 23 Jul 1974, Croft et al. LAE-61993 (A, K, LAE). Sanduan: Bulindip, W of Oksapmin , Telefomin subdistrict, 1,981 m, 19 Oct 1968, Henty et al. NGF-41640 (A, K, L, LAE). Southern Highlands : Onim Hill, Mt. Gilwe Timber area , Mendi subdistrict, 2,500 m, 19 May 1975, Argent 8/ 19 (K); Mount Giluwe , track from Onim to SW summit [Eastern Highlands on label], 2,290 m, 19 Jul 1976, van Royen 11511 (K, L, LAE); between Nol and Mendi, 24 km from Mendi [georef to Mendi], 24 Jun 1977, Symon & Katik 10690 (K, L, LAE, MO). Western Highlands : Wapalepa, Kepaka, Upper Kaugel Valley , Hagen [Mt Hagen?], 2,652 m, 13 Jul 1969, Bowers 796 (L, LAE, US); Waghi & Jim Divide, Minz subprovince, 10 Aug 1981, Kerenga & Croft LAE-77644 (K, L, LAE); Kundip, Mt. Hagen subdistrict, 2,134 m, 10 Sep 1963, Millar & Garay NGF-18664 (GH, LAE); Wabag Road, 1.5 miles from turn-off, Mount Hagen subdistrict, 2,469 m, 30 Sep 1968, Vandenberg et al. NGF-39883 (A, K, L, LAE) .

Figures

Figure 45. Lycianthes rostellata (Merr. & L. M. Perry) A. R. Bean. Drawing by M. L. Szent-Ivany, first published in Symon (1985: fig. 19, as S. pustulatum Symon). Courtesy of the Board of the Botanic Gardens and State Herbarium (Adelaide, South Australia), reproduced with permission.

Figure 46. Lycianthes rostellata herbarium specimen. Papua New Guinea. Eastern Highlands: Womersley 4883 (BM 000886240). Courtesy of the Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, reproduced with permission.

Figure 47. Distribution of Lycianthes rostellata.