Solanum nigricans M.Martens & Galeotti

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Solanaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Solanum nigricans M.Martens & Galeotti

  • Type

    Type. Mexico. Oaxaca: Comaltepeque, 3000 ft, Galeotti s.n. (lectotype, BR, here designated; isolectotypes, G [F neg. 23136], GH, NY, P [Morton neg. 22291], US).

  • Synonyms

    Solanum multinervium Dunal, Solanum brachystachys Dunal, Solanum vernicinitens Bitter

  • Description

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    Species Description - Shrubs or small trees, 1-10 m tall; young stems and leaves densely pubescent with compressed, arachnoid dendritic trichomes or with compact dendritic trichomes, or occasionally glabrous; bark of older stems dark brown, glabrous, with large white lenticels. Sympodial units difoliate, geminate. Leaves elliptic to narrowly elliptic, widest at the middle, glabrous and shining adaxially, glabrous or occasionally sparsely pubescent with arachnoid or dendritic trichomes along the veins; major leaves 5-16 cm long, 3-6 cm wide, with 8-12 main lateral veins drying yellowish abaxially, the apex acute to acuminate, the base acute to attenuate; petioles 1.5-3 cm long; minor leaves differing from the majors only in size, 4-10 cm long, 2-5 cm wide, the apex acute to acuminate, the base acute to attenuate; petioles 1-3 cm long. Inflorescences opposite the leaves, occasionally internodal, simple, 0.5-3 cm long, 5-15-flowered, congested, densely pubescent with arachnoid or dendritic trichomes; pedicel scars closely spaced, occasionally overlapping. Buds globose when young, later ellipsoid, the corolla exserted from the calyx tube. Pedicels at anthesis deflexed, 1.1-2.3 cm long, tapering from the calyx tube to a slender base ca. 0.5 mm diam., densely pubescent with trichomes like those of the rest of the inflorescence or glabrous. Flowers with the calyx tube conical, 1-1.5 mm long, the lobes deflate, 0.51 mm long, densely to sparsely pubescent with trichomes like those of the rest of the inflorescence; corolla white, fleshy, 1-1.3 cm diam., lobed nearly to the base, the lobes planar at anthesis, densely papillose along the margins and at the tips; anthers 3-3.5 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, poricidal at the tips, the pores teardrop shaped; free portion of the fdaments ca. 0.25 mm long, the filament tube ca. 0.5 mm long, glabrous; ovary glabrous; style 5-6 mm long; stigma capitate, minutely papillose. Fruit a globose or apically pointed green berry, 1-2 cm diam.; fruiting pedicels woody, more or less deflexed, 1-3 cm long, ca. 1.5 mm diam. at the base, 2-3 mm diam. at the apex. Seeds dark reddish-brown or pale tan, ovoid-reniform, mm long, 2.5-3 mm wide, the surfaces minutely pitted. Chromosome number not known.

  • Discussion

    Solanum nigricans is superficially similar to and probably the sister species of S. maturecalvans of the Andes, sharing with that species patchy arachnoid pubescence and difoliate, geminate sympodial units. Like the rest of the species in this group, S. nigricans occurs at middle to high elevations, where it is apparently a common element of the oak pine forests of southern Mexico. The apically pointed fruit and matted pubescence make S. nigricans easily distinguishable from any other solanum growing in similar habitats.

    Variation in pubescence is quite marked in Solanum nigricans with some specimens having loose, dendritic trichomes that dry reddish (reminiscent of S. callianthum of Colombia), rather than the more typical matted, arachnoid pubescence. The type specimen of S. brachystachys comes from this end of the range of variation, but all intermediates exist across the species range.

  • Common Names

    shinte, shintez, hierba amargosa, duraznillo, huele de noche, aurella, tzetze

  • Distribution

    In cloud forests and pine-oak forests from central Mexico to Honduras, from 1000-3200 m.

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