Lycianthes amatitlanensis [(Coult. & Donn.Sm.) Bitter ]

Lycianthes amatitlanensis

Citation author:

(J.M.Coult. & Donn.Sm.)

Citation:

Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Vereine Bremen 24 [preprint]: 441. 1919.

Type:

Based on Solanum amatitlanense J.M.Coult. & Donn.Sm.

Last edited by:

Jennifer Poore

Written by:

Ellen Dean and Mayra Huerta

Habit:

Herbs to shrubs, 0.4–4 m tall. Young stems green, somewhat compressed upon drying, becoming light brown and woody with age, moderately to densely pubescent with off-white, tan or purplish (reddish), uniseriate, multicellular, simple, acute, eglandular, straight to curved, spreading or ascending trichomes 0.5–3 mm long, these usually remaining cylindrical and acute upon drying.

Sympodial structure:

Upper sympodial branching points usually monochasial with a few dichasial branching points. Upper sympodial stem units 1–4.5 cm long, 1–4 mm in diameter, difoliate, the leaves usually geminate.

Leaves:

Leaves simple, usually paired and unequal in size, the larger ones with blades 6.5–26 x 1.5–8.5 cm, ovate to elliptic or obovate, the smaller ones with blades 0.3–4 (7) x 0.2–2 (3.5) cm, usually ovate, the blades of both large and small leaves chartaceous, sparsely to densely pubescent with straight or bent trichomes like those of the stem, the trichomes along the midvein of the abaxial side spreading at a 90 degree angle to ascending at a 45 degree angle; major veins on large leaves (7) 10–22 on each side of the midvein, the abaxial side of the blade sometimes purple in color; base cuneate, usually oblique (sometimes rounded in smaller leaves); margin entire, usually delicately undulate; apex acute to acuminate; petioles absent or 0.1–1.5 cm long.

Inflorescences:

Flowers solitary, axillary, the axes moderately to densely pubescent with appressed to spreading trichomes 0.35–1.5 mm long; peduncles usually absent, sometimes present as a 1–3 mm long peg with overlapping pedicel scars; pedicels 4–12 mm long and arching in flower, 6–16 mm long and erect to arching in fruit.

Flowers:

Flowers 5-merous, all perfect, oriented horizontally to nodding. Calyx 1–2 mm long, 2–3 mm in diameter, obconic to narrowly campanulate, moderately pubescent with trichomes similar to stem, the margin truncate to undulate, with 5–10 narrow, linear, spreading appendages 0.8–4 mm long emerging 0.25–0.5 mm below the calyx rim; fruiting calyx slightly enlarged, widely bowl-shaped to plate-shaped, 1–2.5 mm long, 3.5–6 mm in diameter, the appendages very narrow and weak, to 5 mm long, sometimes withering in age. Corolla 0.5–0.8 cm long, campanulate to reflexed in orientation, stellate in outline, divided 1/2 to 2/3 of the way to the base, white to pale yellow, adaxial markings unknown, moderately pubescent on abaxial surface with a tuft of trichomes on the distal end of the lobe. Stamens equal, the filaments 1–2 mm long, glabrous; anthers 2.5–3 mm long, lanceolate, free from one another, yellowish, glabrous, attenuate and abruptly narrowed at the tip, the narrowed portion ca. 0.5 mm long, poricidal at the tip, the pores ovate, dehiscing distally, not opening into longitudinal slits. Ovary glabrous; style 4–6 mm long, linear, glabrous, widened distally into the stigma; stigma capitate, decurrent down two sides.

Fruits:

Fruit a berry, 5–8 mm long, 5–8 mm diameter, globose, orange to red at maturity, glabrous, lacking sclerotic granules.

Seeds:

Seeds 25–80 per fruit, 0.9–1.1 x 0.75–1 mm, compressed but not flat, semi-circular, depressed ovate, triangular, or rhombic in outline, orange, sometimes with one shallow ridge, the surface with shallow serpentine pattern.

Chromosome number:

Not known.

Distribution:

Lycianthes amatitlanensis occurs in Southern Mexico (Chiapas, Tabasco, Veracruz) south to Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and possibly South America. Tall forest, tropical rain forest, mixed evergreen forest, wet premontane forest, montane rain forest, cloud forest, in shady canyons, slopes, drainages (often near rivers or streams), sometimes in disturbed areas or coffee plantations, sometimes on limestone, usually 100–1000 m in elevation, sometimes up to 1200 m in Nicaragua and Mexico.

Phenology:

Flowering March through November; fruiting May through February. De Nevers (1986) wrote a paper on the pollination of L. amatitlanensis in eastern Panama. The flowers were described as being pendulous, positioned below the leaves, and they did not exhibit diurnal movements.

Commentary:

Lycianthes amatitlanensis is a widespread species with small white to pale yellow flowers (pubescent on the abaxial side of the corolla lobes and with tufted trichomes at the lobe tips) and long, coarse trichomes that spread away from the midvein on the abaxial side of the leaf (usually with some trichomes at an angle close to ninety degrees). Lycianthes amatitlanensis is morphologically similar and perhaps closely related to three other species occurring in Mexico and/or Central America: L. glabripetala E. Dean (endemic to Mexico); L. inconspicua Bitter (Central America); and L. inaequilatera (Rusby) Bitter (Costa Rica, Panama, and South America). Lycianthes inconspicua differs from L. amatitlanensis in having longer pedicels (15–30 mm in flower and 30–35 mm in fruit), appressed trichomes along the midvein of the abaxial side of the leaf, and ovate anthers with a shorter attenuate portion at the tip (ca. 0.25 mm long). Lycianthes inaequilatera has pedicels of similar length to those of L. amatitlanensis, but it has short, soft, appressed trichomes along the midvein on the abaxial side of the leaf. The Mexican species Lycianthes glabripetala has larger, nearly glabrous corollas and appressed, wavy trichomes along the midvein on the abaxial side of the leaf blade; L. glabripetala does not overlap in distribution with L. amatitlanensis. Where the distribution of L. amatitlanensis overlaps with L. inconspicua and L. inaequilatera, L. amatitlanensis tends to occur at lower elevations than the other two species. Intermediates between L. inaequilatera and L. amatitlanensis occur in Costa Rica and Panama, and these two species may eventually be treated as a single entity. Lycianthes inaequilatera is a South American species, originally described from Bolivia that has not been reported further north than Costa Rica. Lycianthes amatitlanensis is a Mexican and Central American species, originally described from Guatemala but reported in South America. Further study is needed to understand the ranges and variation of the two species. If united, L. inaequilatera is the earlier and correct name.

References:

Bitter G. 1919. Die Gattung Lycianthes. Abhandlungen herausgegeban vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Verein zu Bremen 24 [preprint]: 292–520.

Dean, E. and M. Reyes. 2018. Lectotypification of names in the the genus Lycianthes (Solanaceae). Phytotaxa 349: 39–46.

De Nevers, G. 1986. Pollination of Lycianthes amatitlanensis in eastern Panama. Solanaceae Newsletter 2: 36–38.

Dean, E., J. Poore, M. A. Anguiano-Constante, M. H. Nee, T. Starbuck, A. Rodrigues, and M. Conner. 2020. The genus Lycianthes (Solanaceae, Capsiceae) in Mexico and Guatemala. PhytoKeys 168: 1–333.

IUCN [Standards, Petitions Subcommittee] (2019) Guidelines for using the IUCN red list categories and criteria. version 12. Prepared by the Standards and Petitions Subcommittee in February 2019. http://jr.iucnredlist.org/documents/redlistGuidelines [accessed December 10, 2019]

Common names and uses:

None recorded.

Other information:

Pollinators (halictid bees) were observed visiting the flowers early morning to late afternoon and at 1 a.m. at night. No floral scents or nectar were noted.

Conservation status:

Lycianthesamatitlanensis is a widespread species ranging from eastern Mexico to Panama, represented by 48 collections and occurring in nine protected areas. The EOO is 687,839.069 km2, and the AOO is 192 km2. Following the IUCN (2019) criteria, the preliminary assessment category is Least Concern (LC)

Solanaceae Source

A global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family

Solanaceae

Lycianthes amatitlanensis (Coult. & Donn.Sm.) Bitter

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