Solanum pinetorum
Not known
Secondary vegetation and disturbed areas in primary forest, coastal cloud forest and Araucaria forests of southeastern Brazil at elevations of 750-2100 m in the provinces of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, and Santa Catarina.
Solanum pinetorum belongs to the Cyphomandra clade of Solanum along with other species traditionally recognized in sections Pachyphylla and Cyphomandropsis (Bohs, in press a). Within the Cyphomandra clade, S. pinetorum belongs to the S. diploconos clade, a strongly supported group consisting of S. diploconos, S. corymbiflorum, S. sciadostylis, S. pinetorum, S. latiflorum, S. exiguum, and S. cacosmum in trees based on nuclear ITS sequence data (Bohs, in press b).
Smith, L.B. & R.J. Downs 1966. Solanáceas.
Pp. 1-321 in P. R. Reitz (ed.), Flora Illustrada Catarinense. Itajaí, Brasil.
Bohs, L. 1994. Cyphomandra (Solanaceae).
Flora Neotropica Monograph 63: 1-175. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY.
Bohs, L. 1995. Transfer of Cyphomandra (Solanaceae) and its species to Solanum.
Taxon 44: 583-587.
Bohs, L. 2005. Major clades in Solanum based on ndhF sequences.
Pp. 27-49 in R. C. Keating, V. C. Hollowell, & T. B. Croat (eds.), A festschrift for William G. D’Arcy: the legacy of a taxonomist. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 104. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.
Bohs, L. 2007. Phylogeny of the Cyphomandra clade of the genus Solanum (Solanaceae) based on ITS sequence data.
Taxon 56: 1012-1026.
nuclear ITS sequence: GenBank AY523912 (voucher: Kummrow & Soares s.n., UT).
This Brazilian species shares the following features with S. cacosmum and S. corymbiflorum: pubescent leaves with cordate bases, truncate stigmas, slender cylindrical styles, and hairy fruits. Solanum pinetorum can be distinguished from S. cacosmum by its relatively broad connective regions that does not extend abaxially below the anther thecae and is not expanded adaxially, its more elongate fruits with longer hairs, and its purple rather than green corolla. Solanum pinetorum is restricted to southeastern Brazil, whereas S. cacosmum is found mainly in the western Amazon. The morphological similarities between these two species are not indicative of a particularly close phylogenetic relationship, although both S. pinetorum and S. cacosmum belong to the S. diploconos clade based on ITS sequence data (Bohs, in press b).
Solanum pinetorum is more closely related to S. corymbiflorum, also of southeastern Brazil. It differs from S. corymbiflorum in its more shallowly cordate leaves with shorter basal lobes, its longer and narrower anthers with a relatively broad connective region, and its elongated and pointed fruits. The inflorescences of S. pinetorum are usually unbranched and few-flowered, unlike the branched and many-flowered inflorescences of S. corymbiflorum.
Smith and Downs (1966) recognized three species, based mainly on differences in pubescence and leaf size and shape, whereas only one species is recognized here. Pubescence and leaf size vary considerably within S. pinetorum (the occurrence and density of longer eglandular hairs is especially variable) and the criteria used by Smith and Downs (1966) for distinguishing these species do not hold up when the entire range of collections is examined. Solanum pinetorum, as circumscribed here, has a disjunct distribution, with populations in the northern area in the states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo separated from those of the southern area by about 250 km. The northern populations typically have larger leaves and corollas than those from the southern regions. The element segregated as Cyphomandra angustifolia Smith & Downs occupies the north central parts of the province of Santa Catarina and includes the collections Smith & Reitz 8736, Smith & Klein 8416, Reitz & Klein 11710, and Reitz & Klein 11391. These collections have smaller and relatively narrower leaves, narrower corolla lobes, and shorter, narrower anthers with a smaller and less prominent connective region than other collections of S. pinetorum, but do not seem to be sufficiently different to justify taxonomic recognition.