Solanum taeniotrichum
Citation:
Contr. Texas Res. Found., Bot. Stud. 1: 6, f. 2. 1950.
Type:
Costa Rica. Cueva del Tigre, Jan 1897, H. Pittier 10646 (holotype, US [1324901]).
Last edited by:
Tepe, E.J.
Written by:
Tepe, E.J.
Habit:
Vine or scandent shrub climbing high over trees and shrubs. Stems stout, densely covered with spreading, tawny pubescence of simple, uniseriate, multicellular hairs.
Sympodial structure:
Sympodial units 4-foliate, not geminate.
Leaves:
Leaves 5 (-7)-pinnate, the blades 4-20 x 4-18 cm, chartaceous, densely pubescent adaxially and abaxially, the rachis pubescent, the margins entire, the leaflets decreasing in size slightly toward the base of the leaf, interjected leaflets absent; lateral leaflets 5-7.5 x 1.5-3.5 cm, elliptic-lanceolate, the bases cuneate to rounded, oblique, the apices acute to shortly acuminate, the petiolules 1.5-4 mm, densely pubescent; apical leaflet 4-8 x 1.5-3.5 cm, elliptic, the apex acuminate, the base acute; petioles 1-6 cm, densely pubescent. Pseudostipules present on some parts of stem, 0.5-2 x 0.2-0.8 cm, obliquely elliptic-lanceolate, the apices obtuse to acute.
Inflorescences:
Inflorescence ca. 5 x 20 cm, highly branched, with 18-38 flowers, all flowers apparently perfect, the axes densely glandular pubescent; peduncle stout, 2.5-10 cm long; rachis 2-10 cm; pedicels 8-15 mm in flower, 15-25 mm in fruit, spaced 1-10 mm apart, articulated at the base.
Flowers:
Flowers apparently homostylous, 5-merous. Calyx 5-6 mm, the tube 2-2.5 mm long, the lobes 3.5-4 x ca. 1.5 mm, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate at tips, the margins hyaline; fruiting calyx very slightly accrescent, the lobes 4-5 x 2-2.5 mm, ovate-lanceolate. Corolla 1.2-2.5 cm in diameter, 5-7 mm long, rotate-pentagonal, blue or violet, the lobes 2-3 x 7-8 mm, obtuse at apices, glabrous adaxially, pubescent abaxially, the margins densely ciliate. Stamens equal, with filaments ca. 1 mm long, pubescent basally; anthers 4-5 x ca. 1.2 mm, oblong, not connivent, yellow with darker maroon at the base (maroon fide Correll, 1962), the pores small, directed distally. Ovary glabrous; style 7-8 x ca. 0.2 mm, cylindrical, glabrous; stigma truncate.
Fruits:
Fruit a globose to ellipsoidal berry, 1-1.8 x 0.8-1.5 cm, rounded at apex, green when immature, red when mature, glabrous; stone cell aggregates absent.
Seeds:
Seeds 2-3 mm in diameter, flattened, light brown, the surface smooth to rugulose.
Distribution:
This species is found in cloud forests and páramo in the Cordillera de Talamanca in Costa Rica and adjacent parts of Panama, 2500-3400 m.
Phenology:
Flowering specimens have been collected in January and June to December.
Phylogeny:
Solanum taeniotrichum is a member of the Potato clade sensu Weese and Bohs (2007). Its phylogenetic position within that clade has not been investigated with molecular data.
References:
Correll, D.S. 1962. The potato and its wild relatives.
Contr. Texas Res. Found., Bot. Stud. 4: 1-606.
Anderson, G.J. 1984. Chromosome number reports LXXXV.
Taxon 33: 756-760.
Weese, T.L. & L. Bohs 2007. A Three-Gene Phylogeny of the Genus Solanum (Solanaceae)
Syst. Bot. 32(2): 445-463.
Solanum taeniotrichum can be recognized by the combination of compound leaves, highly branched inflorescences, a shrubby scandent habit, abundant pubescence of simple multicellular hairs, and red fruits. In Panama it is only known from the Parque Internacional La Amistad (PILA) just near the Costa Rican border and has been collected only rarely.