Citation:
Fl. flumin. 82. 1829 [1825]. As "Solanum gnaphalocarpus".
Type:
Brazil. Rio de Janeiro: "Crescit campis apricus mediterraneis" (No specimens extant; lectotype, Vellozo, Fl. flumin. icones 2: fig. 91 ("Solanum gnaphalocarpus"). 1831 [1827], designated by Knapp, 2002).
Last edited by:
Knapp, S.
Written by:
Knapp, S.
Habit:
Shrubs 1-1.5 m tall; young stems and leaves densely pubescent with pale tan closely branched dendritic trichomes 0.1-0.25 mm long; bark of older stems reddish-brown, not glabrescent.
Sympodial structure:
Sympodial units difoliate, geminate.
Leaves:
Leaves narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, widest at the middle, sparsely pubescent with dendritic trichomes adaxially, the trichomes denser along the main veins, pubescent with closely branched dendritic trichomes abaxially, the trichomes 0.25-0.5 mm long, most of the trichome branches arising in the distal 1/3 of the trichome, denser along the veins; major leaves with 9-11 pairs of main lateral veins, 7.5-12 x 1.5-4.5 cm, the apex acute to acuminate, the base attenuate; petioles 3-7 mm long; minor leaves differing from the majors in size and often shape, elliptic to orbicular, 1-2.3 x 0.7-1.7 cm, the apex rounded to acute, the base acute; petioles 1-2 mm long.
Inflorescences:
Inflorescences opposite the leaves, simple, 2-9 mm long, 2-5-flowered, densely pubescent with closely branched trichomes like those of the stems and leaves; pedicel scars closely spaced but not overlapping. Buds globose, later obovoid, the corolla strongly exserted from the calyx tube. Pedicels at anthesis probably deflexed, thin and tapering, 4-5 mm long, ca. 0.5 mm in diam. at the base, densely pubescent like the rest of the inflorescence.
Flowers:
Inflorescences opposite the leaves, simple, 2-9 mm long, 2-5-flowered, densely pubescent with closely branched trichomes like those of the stems and leaves; pedicel scars closely spaced but not overlapping. Buds globose, later obovoid, the corolla strongly exserted from the calyx tube. Pedicels at anthesis probably deflexed, thin and tapering, 4-5 mm long, ca. 0.5 mm in diam. at the base, densely pubescent like the rest of the inflorescence.
Fruits:
Fruit a globose, green, densely pubescent berry, 1-1.3 cm in diam., the pubescence consisting of closely branched trichomes ca. 1 mm long, the branches very short and congested; fruiting pedicels somewhat deflexed, 6-9 mm long, ca. 1 mm in diam. at the base.
Seeds:
Seeds pale brown, ovoid-reniform with somewhat incrassate margins, 3-4 x 2.5-3 mm, the surface minutely pitted, the cells sinuate in outline.
Distribution:
In woods, secondary growth, and open areas from 700-1300 m. Southern Brazil in Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo states.
Phylogeny:
Solanum gnaphalocarpon is a member of the Solanum arenarium species group (Knapp, 2002) of the Geminata clade (Bohs, 2005).
References:
Knapp, S. 2002. Solanum section Geminata (G. Don) Walpers (Solanaceae).
Flora Neotropica 84: 1-405.
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 gnaphalocarpon is superficially similar to S. pseudocapsicum (S. pseudocapsicum species group) in its dendritic leaf pubescence and general leaf shape, but differs from that species in many characters. Solanum pseudocapsicum has flattened-reniform seeds, larger flowers and fruit, and never has orbicular minor leaves.
The trichomes on the fruit of S. gnaphalocarpon are distinctive and found nowhere else in section Geminata. They are tree-like, but with the axis much elongated and the general aspect of the trichome approaching a stellate type morphology. In fruit, S. gnaphalocarpon is not easily mistaken for any other species of section Geminata, or for that matter, in the genus Solanum.