Solanum oppositifolium Ruiz & Pav.

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Solanaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Solanum oppositifolium Ruiz & Pav.

  • Type

    Type. Peru. Junín: Vitoc, Tafalla s.n. (lectotype, MA [F neg. 29729]; iso-lectotypes, K, MA, frag. F).

  • Synonyms

    Solanum urceolatum Pers., Solanum schizopodium Sendtn., Solanum viliflorum Sendtn., Solanum confine Dunal, Solanum puberuloba Steyerm., Solanum confertiseriatum Bitter

  • Description

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    Species Description - Shrubs or small trees, 1-5 m tall, occasionally quite small (ca. 30 cm) in inundated forests; young stems and leaves densely hirsutulous with erect uniseriate trichomes, the trichomes to 0.2 mm long; older stems remaining puberulent, the new growth soon glabrous except on the veins; bark of the older stems grayish-brown. Sympodial units difoliate, geminate. Leaves obovate to elliptic, widest at or above the middle, glabrous and often shiny above, glabrous or hirsutulous on the veins beneath, the trichomes erect and uniseriate, ca. 0.2 mm long, the undersides paler, especially in plants from southern populations; major leaves 7-30 x 3.5-12 cm, with 7-9 pairs of main lateral veins, these slightly impressed above, yellowish beneath, the apex acute to acuminate, the base cuneate to attenuate; petioles 0.5-1.1 cm long; minor leaves differing from the major ones only in size (but in one Guyanese collection the minor leaves orbicular), 2.5-11 x 1.3-4.5 cm, the apex acute to acuminate, the base cuneate to attenuate; petioles 5-8 mm long. Inflorescences opposite the leaves, occasionally terminal, but in such cases becoming lateral and opposite the leaves as shoot growth continues, simple or many-times furcate, 1-12 cm long, 5-50-flowered, commonly with only a few flowers open at a time, densely hirsutulous with tiny erect uniseriate trichomes like those of the young stems and leaves; pedicel scars in pairs, the members of a pair closely spaced, the pairs evenly spaced ca. 1 mm apart. Buds ellipsoid, the corolla soon exserted from the calyx tube. Pedicels at anthesis deflexed, 4-6 mm long, tapering from the calyx tube to a slender base ca. 0.5 mm diam., densely hirsutulous with tiny uniseriate trichomes. Flowers with the calyx tube narrowly campanulate, 1-1.5 mm long, hirsutulous, the lobes deltoid, hyaline, 0.2-1 mm long, densely hirsutulous with erect uniseriate trichomes; corolla white or greenish-white, 8-9 mm diam., lobed nearly to the base, the lobes reflexed at anthesis, the tips and margins of the lobes puberulent with golden uniseriate trichomes; anthers 2-2.5 x 0.75-1 mm, the terminal 0.2 mm paler and thickened, poricidal at the tips, the pores teardrop shaped; free portion of the filaments 0.1-0.3 mm long, the filament tube 0.2-0.5 mm long; ovary glabrous or pubescent with golden simple uniseriate (occasionally branched) trichomes, these, if present, persisting onto the berry; style in short-styled flowers ca. 1.5 mm long, in long-styled flowers 3-4 mm long, straight; stigma slightly clavate, minutely papillose. Fruit a globose, green berry, glabrous or pubescent, 1-1.5 cm diam.; fruiting pedicels woody, erect, 0.6-1.5 cm long, 1-1.5 mm diam. at the base, the apex slightly expanded, ca. 3 mm diam. Seeds pale brownish-tan, ovoid-reniform, 34 x 2-2.5 mm, the surfaces minutely pitted. Chromosome number: n = 12 (voucher Knapp & Mallet 6618).

  • Discussion

    Parcha is the common name for species of Passiflora in Venezuela and is almost certainly a labeling error.

    Solanum oppositifolium is most closely related to S. confertiseriatum of western Ecuador and Peru (see Knapp, 1991b). It differs from that species, however, in its Amazonian distribution, smaller leaves and inflorescences, and in its probably andromonoecious (rather than dioecious) breeding system. These sister taxa may have speciated allopatrically (Knapp, 1991b).

    Solanum oppositifolium is a widespread and variable species, and the following are some of its more well-marked geographical races.

    1) Plants from central and southern Peru and adjacent Brazil have simple inflorescences and pubescent berries. The leaf undersides of plants from these populations dry a pale, golden brown. Ruiz and Pavón’s type specimen of Solanum oppositifolium came from among these populations.

    2) In the inundated forests of the Amazon basin, plants often have long, branched inflorescences, glabrous berries, and usually leathery, larger leaves. This race has been called Solanum schizopodium (an adult plant) and S. viliflorum (a tiny plant with its first inflorescence). Vásquez (1997) misidentified Iquitos plants of this race as S. confertiseriatum, which only occurs on the western slopes of the Andes.

    3) A higher elevation, isolated race on the slopes of the Guyana sandstone plateau has simple inflorescences, glabrous berries, and usually leathery leaves. This form is relatively limited in distribution and has been called Solanum puberuloba.

    Many other forms more local in distribution could be described. It would be counterproductive to provide formal names for this mosaic of variation, as even these well-marked geographic races are not easily delimitable entities. Specimens exist that bridge all the gaps and a complex pattern of variation exists in which several geographical norms appear.

  • Common Names

    araña gato, parcha, tupirito, tupido de galápago, manano-ey, ocuerilla, sacha conjompe

  • Distribution

    Widely distributed in the Amazon basin, from Guyana to southern Peru, from sea level to 800 m. This species grows in a variety of habitats from inundated forest to upland rainforest.

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