2n = 2x = 24 voucher: Spooner & Clausen 4618 (PTIS) (Hijmans, et al. 2007)
Solanum venturii is found in northern Argentina (Provs. Catamarca, La Rioja, Jujuy, Salta and Tucumán), in humid steep grassy slopes, or among Alnus and Polylepis woods, or at the edges of fields and roadsides, river terraces, stone fences or among boulders; 1900-3000 m in elevation.
Solanum venturii is a member of Solanum sect. Petota Dumort., the tuber-bearing cultivated and wild potatoes. Within sect. Petota, Solanum venturii is a member of a very diverse clade related to the cultivated potato. On a higher taxonomic level, it is a member of the informally-named Potato Clade, a group of perhaps 200-300 species that also includes the tomato and its wild relatives (Bohs, 2005).
Hawkes, J.G. & J.P. Hjerting 1969. The potatoes of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay: a biosystematic study.
Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, UK.
Hawkes, J.G. & J.P. Hjerting 1983. New tuber-bearing Solanum taxa from Bolivia and northern Argentina.
Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 86: 405-417.
Hawkes, J.G. & J.P. Hjerting 1989. The potatoes of Bolivia: their breeding value and evolutionary relationships.
Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Hawkes, J.G. 1990. The potato: evolution, biodiversity and genetic resources.
Oxford: Belhaven Press.
Clausen A.M. & V.N. Ispazúa 2005. Caracterización morfológica de Solanum okadae.
XXX Jornadas Argentinas de Botánica, Rosario, Córdoba, Argentina. Actas en el Boletín de la Sociedad Argentina de Botánica. 40: 59.
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.
Van den Berg, R.G. & N. Groendijk-Wilders 2007. AFLP data support the recognition of a new tuber-bearing Solanum species but are uninformative about its taxonomic relationships.
Pl. Syst. Evol. 269: 133–143.
Hijmans, R., T. Gavrilenko, S. Stephenson, J. Bamberg, A. Salas & D.M. Spooner 2007. Geographic and environmental range expansion through polyploidy in wild potatoes (Solanum section Petota).
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Hawkes and Hjerting (1969) cite a collection from Catamarca (Hunziker 19177) as the most southerly locality known for S. venturii; we are expanding its distribution further south by adding a collection from La Rioja.
Solanum venturii as been found growing with S. vernei, S. neorossii, S. sanctae-rosae and S. microdontum. Hawkes and Hjerting (1969) cited hybrids with S. sanctae-rosae, although some of these hybrids have the characteristic acute terminal and most distal lateral leaflets of S. sanctae-rosae as well as pale-blue flowers and we have identified them as S. sanctae-rosae – they are: Petersen and Hjerting P56, P326, P327, P333, P334, P336, 839. We identify Venturii 4727 and Sleumer 1839 as S. venturii on the bases of leaf morphology and flower color.
We identify the following collections as hybrids with S. neorossii, as these collections present white flowers that have some purple, and intermediate leaf morphology: Hoffman 1563, Okada 4392, 4392C, 4385, 4391, 4404, 7585, 7609, 7633B, 7619A, 7633B, 7456, 7484A, 7618B, 7584B. Collections 7619B, Okada 7609 are probable hybrids with S. vernei.
Solanum venturii was described by Hawkes and Hjerting in 1960 (see above) as a species closely related to S. microdontum and distributed in the provinces of Jujuy, Catamarca and Tucumán. Hawkes and Hjerting (1983) described S. okadae on the basis of a specimen from Bolivia; in Argentina its presence was reported from the Provinces of Jujuy and Salta, but no collections were cited from these areas. Hawkes and Hjerting (1989) stated that that they originally thought that S. okadae was vigorous and tall, although in its natural habitat it formed small tufts or semi-rosettes with simple uni-jugate leaves; the Argentinean forms of S. okadae are more delicate in leaf and stem compared to the Bolivian ones. Hawkes (1990) stated that S. okadae, S. venturii and S. microdontum were closely related species, but S. venturii could be distinguished from S. okadae by the larger terminal and smaller lateral leaflets.
Ochoa (1990), when comparing S. venturii and S. microdontum, stated that S. venturii is taller, more vigorous, larger-flowered and more pubescent than S. microdontum, and stated that the true affinity of S. microdontum is with S. okadae because both present a large terminal leaflet of similar shape, and have sparsely pilose and poorly dissected leaves.
Hawkes, Hjerting & Rahn 3742, 3712, 3716, 3741, 3589, 3539, 3540 and 3541 were identified as S. venturii by Hawkes and Hjerting (1969). In their treatment of the Bolivian potatoes, Hawkes and Hjerting (1989) identified Hawkes, Hjerting & Rahn 3742, 3712, 3716 and 3741 as S. okadae while the remaining collections from the southern distribution were not cited. Hawkes and Hjerting (1969) identified Hjerting & Rahn 28 as S. venturii on a herbarium sheet. The same enlarged terminal leaflet, a variable number of laterals and in some cases an obtuse apex was observed in all the above specimens.
Hawkes and Hjerting (1989) and Ochoa (1990) considered S. okadae to occur in Bolivia, but we disagree and consider the specimens they cited for Bolivia to be S. venturii. Clausen and Ispizúa (2005), when comparing the disjunct populations of S. okadae from Argentina and Bolivia, found that the Bolivian accessions of S. okadae could be differentiated from the Argentinean populations on the bases of larger leaves, larger peduncle, larger calyx, winged stem, and more pairs of lateral leaflets. The Argentinean populations are very similar to what we consider to be S. venturii, and the collections from herbarium BAL were cited as S. venturii in Hawkes (1990). Morphological variability is encountered along its wide distributional range in Argentina, and we identify northern and southern Argentinean populations of “S. okadae” and S. venturii. The name S. okadae should be maintained for the Bolivian populations.
Van den Berg and Groendijk-Wilders (2007), included a few populations of S. okadae and S. venturii from Argentina and S. okadae from Bolivia in a wider morphological and AFLP study. Their morphological analysis was not consistent, but their AFLP study showed that the Argentinean populations of S. okadae and S. venturii and clustered together while S. okadae from Bolivia formed a distinct group.