Solanum hypocalycosarcum Bitter

Authority

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

Family

Solanaceae

Scientific Name

Solanum hypocalycosarcum Bitter

Type

Type. Ecuador. Guayas: Balao, Feb 1892, Eggers 14405 (holotype, M [F neg. 2663]).

Description

Species Description - Delicate shrubs 1-3 m tall; young stems and leaves minutely pubescent with erect unicellular and uniseriate trichomes ca. 0.01 mm long, these not soon deciduous; branches with a flattened aspect; bark of the older stems pale, drying gray or white. Sympodial units usually difoliate, geminate. Leaves narrowly ovate, widest in the proximal 1/3 of the blade, glabrous on both surfaces, the main lateral veins prominent and yellowish beneath; major leaves 10-15 x 3.5-5 cm, with 7-8 pairs of main lateral veins, the apex acute to acuminate, the base truncate to rounded, decurrent on the short petiole; petioles minute, ca. 5 mm long; minor leaves differing from the majors in size and shape, elliptic, 2.5-4.5 x 1.2-2.5 cm, the apex acute to acuminate, the base truncate to rounded; petioles 3-5 mm long. Inflorescences opposite the leaves, simple, 0.8-1.5 cm long, 10-14-flowered, minutely pubescent with unicellular and uniseriate trichomes; pedicel scars in distinct pairs, the members of a pair touching, but not overlapping, the distance between pairs ca. 1 mm. Buds globose, the corolla soon exserted from the calyx, obovoid with corolla exsertion, minutely pubescent with erect unicellular trichomes, the young buds black in dried material. Pedicels at anthesis deflexed, 0.8-1 cm long, tapering gently from the calyx to a basal diam. of 0.25-0.5 mm. Flowers with the calyx tube broadly conical, barely differentiated from the pedicel, in live plants purple at the base, ca. 1 mm long, the lobes deltoid, ca. 0.5 mm long, minutely papillose on the tips; corolla white, ca. 1 cm diam., lobed ca. 2/3 of the way to the base, the lobes strongly reflexed at anthesis, minutely papillose on the tips and margins of the lobes; anthers ca. 2.5 x 1 mm, poricidal at the tips, the pores teardrop shaped; free portion of the filaments ca. 0.3 mm long, the filament tube ca. 0.3 mm long; ovary glabrous; style straight, ca. 5 mm long; stigma globose, pale papillose in dry material, bright green in live plants. Fruit a globose, green berry, ca. 1.1 cm diam.; fruiting pedicels slightly woody, deflexed, greatly expanded and purple at the apex, this characteristic not obvious in dry material, ca. 2 mm diam. at the apex (dry specimens), ca. 1 mm diam. at the base. Seeds tan, ovoid-reniform, ca. 2.5 x 2 mm, the surfaces minutely pitted, the margins somewhat incrassate and darker than the seed body. Chromosome number: n = 12 (voucher Knapp & Mallet 6265).

Discussion

With its closely spaced pedicel scars, geminate leaves, and rather stout (for the S. confine species group) inflorescences, S. hypocalycosarcum is related to S. pastillum and S. tuerckheimii of montane Central America. It shares slightly incrassate seed margins with S. leptorhachis, also of western Ecuador, but is otherwise not at all similar to that species. The tiny erect trichomes of the stems and inflorescences, and their absence from the leaves, are characteristic of S. hypocalycosarcum. The leaf shape of S. hypocalycosarcum, narrowly ovate and widest in the lower 1/3, is also quite distinctive. The relationships of S. hypocalycosarcum are enigmatic, and many more collections are needed to assess its variability and to further investigate characters informative as to its position in the section.

Distribution

In rainforests on the western slopes of the Andes in Ecuador, from sea level to ca. 600 m.

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