Solanum symmetricum Rusby

  • Authority

    Knapp, Sandra D. 2002. section (Solanaceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 84: 1-404. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Solanaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Solanum symmetricum Rusby

  • Type

    Type. Bolivia. La Paz: Mapiri, Jul-Aug 1892.Bang 1478(holotype,NY; isotypes, F, K, MO, US, WIS)

  • Synonyms

    Solanum nudum var. pseudoindigoferum Hassl., Solanum versabile C.V.Morton

  • Description

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    Species Description - Shrubs or small trees, 1.5-5 m tall; young stems minutely glandular, slender; older stems glabrous, the bark becoming shiny and deep maroon. Sympodial units difoliate, geminate. Leaves elliptic, widest at the middle, glabrous above, with tufts of uniseriate trichomes 0.5-1 mm long in the axils of the main lateral veins below, the trichomes arising from both the veins and the lamina; major leaves 11-15.5 x 4-6.5 cm, with 8-10 pairs of main lateral veins, these impressed above, dark and prominent below, the apex acuminate, the base acute to attenuate, decurrent on the petiole; petioles 1-1.6 cm long, winged from the bases of the decurrent leaves; minor leaves differing from the major ones only in size, 3.8-6.1 x 2-4.2 cm, the apex acute, the base acute to attenuate; petioles 6-8 mm long. Inflorescences opposite the leaves, simple (occasionally furcate), subumbellate, 0.8-1 cm long, 5-20-flowered, glabrous or minutely glandular; pedicel scars closely packed in the distal 2-3 mm of the inflorescence, all overlapping. Buds globose, the corolla scarcely exserted from the calyx. Pedicels at anthesis 0.9-1.1 cm long, tapering from the calyx tube to a slender base ca. 0.5 mm diam. Flowers with the calyx tube somewhat urceolate, ca. 1.5 mm long, the lobes deltoid, ca. 1 mm long, glabrous or with a few minute papillae at the tips of the lobes; corolla white, 1.3-1.8 cm diam., lobed nearly to the base, the lobes slightly reflexed at anthesis, with thin interpetalar sinuses, minutely papillose with unicellular trichomes on the tips of the lobes; anthers ca. 3 mm long, the terminal 0.5 mm paler and thickened, ca. 1 mm, poricidal at the tips, the pores teardrop shaped; free portion of the filaments ca. 1 mm long, the filament tube less than 0.5 mm long; ovary glabrous; style straight, 5-6 mm long; stigma capitate, bilobed, dark-papillose. a globose, green berry, ca. 1 cm diam.; fruiting pedicels ca. 1.5 cm long, woody, deflexed, expanded just below the calyx tube, ca. 1 mm diam. at the base. Seeds brown, ca. 50 per fruit, flattened-reniform, ca. 2 x 1.5 mm, the margins incrassate, the surfaces minutely pitted. Chromosome number not known.

  • Discussion

    Solatium symmetricum is probably most closely related to S. caavurana, also of southern South America. Solatium symmetricum differs from that species in its pedicel scars clustered in the distal 1/3 to 1/4 of the inflorescence axis, smaller, non-petaloid calyx lobes, more deeply lobed flowers, minute filament tube, and elongate anthers. The subumbellate form of the inflorescences is distinctive, and makes S. symmetricum easy to distinguish from other members of the S. nudum species group.

    There are relatively few older collections oí Solatium symmetricum from Bolivia, probably due to the collecting deficit in that country which is rapidly being redressed. Many collections exist from Argentina where the plant is apparently quite common. The populations in Misiones and Paraguay are discontinuous with the rest of the species, but definitely represent the same species. They are possibly relictual in nature.

    The lectotype I have chosen for Solatium nudum var. pseudoindigoferum is one of the several specimens cited in the publication of this name. Hassler did not cite any herbaria, but the specimen at G bears an annotation label in what appears to be his handwriting, and is designated the lectotype. Hassler 3793, the lectotype, is represented in several herbaria, and is the second specimen cited by Elassler. The duplicates are all in good condition.

  • Common Names

    caa-hu, malfato

  • Distribution

    In mid-elevation forests and the eastern Andean slope in Bolivia and Argentina; also in Misiones, Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay in hilly areas; 400-1000 m.

    Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America| Minas Gerais Brazil South America| Paraná Brazil South America| Bolivia South America| Santa Cruz Bolivia South America| Tarija Bolivia South America| Paraguay South America| Caazapá Paraguay South America| Canindeyú Paraguay South America| Central Paraguay South America| Cordillera Paraguay South America| Guairá Paraguay South America| Itapúa Paraguay South America| Argentina South America| Corrientes Argentina South America| Jujuy Argentina South America| Misiones Argentina South America| Salta Argentina South America| Tucuman Argentina South America|