Citation:
Anal. Univ. Chile 43: 522. 1873.
Type:
Chile. Atacama: port of Huasco, Philippi s.n. (type, SGO [42735, 55576]).
Last edited by:
Bennett, J.
Written by:
Bennett, J.
Habit:
Annual or perennial, erect or decumbent herb 50–100 cm tall. Stems woody at the base, up to 6 mm in diameter, glabrous to sparsely pubescent with simple, uniseriate, unicellular or multicellular hairs up to 0.5 mm long, glabrescent.
Sympodial structure:
Sympodial units unifoliate, not geminate.
Leaves:
Leaves pinnate or bipinnate, the blades (0.5–) 1.6–8.0 x (0.5–) 1.2–6.2 cm, 1.0–2.0 times as long as wide, ovate, probably fleshy, often glandular abaxially, the glands sessile, circular, ca. 0.05 mm diameter, subglabrous to sparsely pubescent adaxially and abaxially, sometimes denser along the veins of the abaxial surface, the hairs simple, uniseriate, multicellular, up to 0.25 mm long; divided into 3–5 pairs of primary pinnae, the pinnae 0.5–1.7 (–2.0) x ca. 0.1 cm, decreasing in length from the base to the leaf apex, with 1–3 pairs of secondary pinnae along each side, secondary pinnae 1–3 (–7) mm long; apex of primary and secondary pinnae obtuse; petioles 0.4–2.2 (–4.5) cm, occasionally with a narrow wing up to 1.0 mm wide either side, indumentum as of the blades.
Inflorescences:
Inflorescences 3.0–5.1 (–11.0) cm long, borne on axillary shoots, branched 1–3 times, with 12–30 flowers, all flowers perfect, the axes moderately to densely pubescent with appressed, simple, uniseriate, unicellular and multicellular hairs up to 0.4 mm long; peduncle 0.5–3.5 cm at anthesis; pedicels 1–3 (–6) mm at anthesis, 4–7 mm in fruit, spaced 1–10 mm apart in fruit, articulated at the base.
Flowers:
Flowers with the calyx 2.0–4.0 (–4.5) mm long, the tube 0.5–2.0 mm, the lobes equal, 1.2–2.0 x 0.5–0.7 (–1.2) mm at anthesis, 1.9–3.0 x 0.7–1.6 mm in fruit, ovate to elliptic, the apex acute, glabrous to sparsely pubescent adaxially and abaxially with simple, uniseriate, multicellular hairs up to 0.4 mm long. Corolla 5.0–7.0 mm diameter, pentagonal, chartaceous, blue, violet, pale lilac or lavender, the tube 0.75–1.0 mm long, the lobes 2.5–3.5 x 2.5–4.0 mm, moderately pubescent abaxially with simple, uniseriate, multicellular hairs up to 0.2 mm long, glabrous adaxially. Stamens 5, equal; filament tube 0.75–1.0 mm long, glabrous; filaments equal, 1.2–3.5 mm long, densely pubescent with white hairs <0.1 mm long; anthers equal, 0.75–2.0 x 0.75–1.0 mm, oblong, yellow, not connivent, poricidal at the tips, the pores elliptic, rapidly opening into longitudinal slits with age. Ovary glabrous; style 2.8–3.0 x 0.1–0.3 mm, cylindrical, straight, the lower half densely pubescent with white hairs < 0.1 mm long; stigma clavate, 0.6–1.0 x 0.5 mm.
Fruits:
Fruit 4.0–6.0 mm in diameter, globose, glabrous, green-purple or black; stone cells usually present, few in number, rounded, ca. 0.8 x 0.6 mm.
Seeds:
Seeds 1.2–1.7 x 0.8–1.2 mm, flattened, pale to dark brown, surface shallowly pitted.
Distribution:
Endemic to Chile [Regions I (Tarapacá), II (Antofagasta), III (Atacama)]. On steep, sandy or gravelly hillsides, 100–800 m in elevation.
Phenology:
Flowers August to April.
Phylogeny:
This species belongs to the Regmandra clade of Bohs (2005), an isolated clade within the non-spiny solanums.
References:
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.
Taxonomic name:
Solanum brachyantherum is easily identified by the size of the flowers, which are much smaller than any of the other species of section Regmandra. The pinnae of the pinnate or bipinnate leaves are only about 1 mm wide, and are much narrower than those of S. remyanum or S. multifidum.