Citation:
in DC., Prodr. 13(1): 195. 1852.
Type:
Chile. Valdivia, C. Gay 212 (holotype, MPU; isotype, P).
Habit:
Lax shrub with arching branches, 1-3 m, suckering at the base. Stems glabrous to densely pubescent with uniseriate, simple or dendritic trichomes < 0.5 mm long, strongly ridged, the ridges pale; new growth sparsely to densely pubescent with simple or dendritic trichomes. Bark of older stems green to grey, the ridges paler.
Sympodial structure:
Sympodial units plurifoliate, the leaves borne on short shoots, not geminate.
Leaves:
Leaves usually simple, highly variable in size and shape, on non-reproductive stems the leaves 3-6 x 1-1.5 cm, lanceolate, occasionally with irregular lobes at the base, on reproductive stems the leaves more often elliptic, 0.9-1 x 0.5-0.7 cm, membranous or somewhat fleshy, the upper surfaces glabrous to sparsely pubescent with simple or dendritic trichomes < 0.5 mm long, the lower surfaces glabrous to sparsely or densely pubescent with simple or dendritic trichomes like those of the upper surfaces; primary veins 2-7 pairs, not visible in elliptic leaves; base acute to truncate, in elliptic leaves more usually acute; margins entire, occasionally with one or two basal lobes in lanceolate leaves; apex acuminate to rounded in lanceolate leaves, acute to obtusely rounded in elliptic leaves; petioles 0.5-1 cm in lanceolate leaves, 0.15-0.2 mm in elliptic leaves, apparently not twining.
Inflorescences:
Inflorescences terminal on short axillary shoots, 1-3 cm long, simple or occasionally once-branched, with 3-10 flowers clustered at tip, glabrous to densely pubescent with simple or dendritic uniseriate trichomes < 0.5 mm; peduncle 1-3 cm; pedicels 1-1.2 cm, ca. 0.5 mm in diameter at the apex and base, filiform, nodding at anthesis, glabrous, sometimes tinged purple, articulated at the base in a short sleeve on a platform; pedicel scars short pegs clustered at the tips of inflorescence in a small group, with the appearance of a platform.
Flowers:
Flowers all perfect, 5-merous. Buds ellipsoid, the corolla very exserted from the calyx tube before anthesis. Calyx tube 1-1.2 mm, conical, the lobes 0.5-1.5 mm, deltate or quadrate, minutely apiculate, glabrous. Corolla 0.7-1.8 cm in diameter, white or purple, often white tinged violet, stellate, lobed 3/4 of the way to the base, the lobes 3-5 x 2-3.5 cm, strongly reflexed at anthesis, densely pubescent on the tips and distal lobe margins. Filament tube minute, the free portion of the filaments 0.5-1 mm, glabrous or minutely puberulent with simple trichomes; anthers 3-4 x 1-1.5 mm, ellipsoid, loosely connivent, yellow, poricidal at the tips, the pores not markedly lengthening to slits with age. Ovary glabrous; style 5-7 mm, glabrous; stigma capitate, the surface minutely papillose.
Fruits:
Fruit a globose berry, 0.5-0.7 cm in diameter, red and shiny when ripe, glabrous, the pericarp thin; fruiting pedicels 1.5-2 cm, more or less woody, ca. 1 mm in diameter at the base, pendant.
Seeds:
Seeds ca. 10 per berry, ca. 3 x 2 mm, flattened-reniform, reddish brown, the surface minutely pitted, the testal cells square.
Leaf shape in Solanum valdiviense is incredibly variable, and ranges from lanceolate and sometimes basally lobed on non-reproductive (and some reproductive) shoots, to minute and almost orbicular or elliptic on reproductive shoots. Long sucker shoots invariably have lanceolate leaves, but reproductive shoots may have either type. Leaves of juvenile shoots are sometimes lobed at the base. This variability has led to the relatively many synonyms for this species of quite restricted range; for example, R.A. Philippi described S. puberulum on the basis of its leaf shape and pubescence. Specimens identified as S. krauseanum are particularly weak and thin specimens, and the leaves are membranous and more ovate than is usual. The stems, however, have the characteristic wings and pubescence of S. valdiviense.
The inflorescence in S. valdiviense is borne terminally on short axillary shoots (occasionally leaf opposed or the shoot much reduced), a character shared with the otherwise very different S. inodorum of southeastern Brazil. In many specimens, the leaves of the short shoots are smaller and more congested than those of the main stems, but not always. Rarely does the short shoot lack well-developed leaves; this leads to the plant having a bushy appearance. Pubescence is also quite variable in S. valdiviense, varying from nearly absent to dense. This variation does not seem to have an ecological basis, and is quite common in the Dulcamaroid clade in general. Flower color in S. valdiviense also varies from white to purple, again a common characteristic in the Dulcamaroid clade. The strongly reflexed petals are mentioned often on labels, and appear to be characteristic of S. valdiviense.
Solanum valdiviense could be confused with another species of the Dulcamaroid clade occurring in coastal Chile, S. alphonsei. Solanum alphonsei has consistently lobed leaves that are more deltoid in outline, open, many-branched inflorescences and is usually a vine, rather than a lax shrub.
Smaller leaved individuals of S. valdiviense have been called S. evonymoides J. Rémy, but that epithet is pre-occupied by S. evonymoides Sendtn., a member of the Geminata clade from southeastern Brazil (see Knapp, 2008). No specimens have been traced that can be definitively linked with Rémy’s protologue.
Solanum cryptopodium, a name attributed to F. Philippi in indices, is a spelling mistake for S. cyrtopodium Dunal; he did not cite a type and it is clear he was not intending a new name. O. Kuntze identified Poeppig 63 [714] as “Solanum quadrifidum” a name he never published (see P000369231).