Lycianthes connata [J.L.Gentry ]

Lycianthes connata

Citation author:

J.L.Gentry

Citation:

Phytologia 26: 271, 1973.

Type:

Guatemala. Huehuetenango: Cruz de Limón, between San Mateo Ixtatán and Mucá, Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, 2600–3000 m, 31 Jul 1942, J.A. Steyermark 49828 (holotype: F [0072906F, acc. # 1199398]).

Last edited by:

Jennifer Poore

Written by:

Ellen Dean

Habit:

Shrub, erect, 0.5–5 (7) m tall. Stems green to purplish when young, compressed upon drying, becoming woody with age, glabrous to sparsely pubescent with white, off-white to brownish, uniseriate, multicellular, simple, curved, eglandular, appressed-ascending trichomes 0.25–1 mm long.

Sympodial structure:

Upper sympodial branching points mono- or dichasial. Upper sympodial stem units 2–9 cm long, 1–4 mm in diameter, difoliate, the leaves usually geminate, sometimes appearing unifoliate due to the small geminate leaf abscissing early or not developingn

Leaves:

Leaves simple, usually paired and unequal in size, the larger ones with blades 4.5–16.5 (-20) x 1.5–8.5 cm, the smaller ones with blades 1.5–8.5 x 0.5–4 cm, the geminate leaf pairs usually similar in shape, the blades ovate, elliptic, or obovate, membranaceous, sometimes with purple veins, glabrous to sparsely pubescent with trichomes like those of the stems 0.1–1 mm long; larger leaves with major veins 4-6 on each side of midvein; base cuneate to attenuate, sometimes oblique; margin entire, usually undulate; apex acute to acuminate; petioles absent or 0.1–3 cm long.

Inflorescences:

Flowers solitary or in groups of 2–5, axillary, the axes usually glabrous, green to dull purple; peduncles absent; pedicels 15–35 mm and erect to arching in flower, to 40 mm long, and erect to arching in fruit.

Flowers:

Flowers 5-merous, all perfect, erect to oriented horizontally. Calyx 2–4 mm long, 4–5 mm in diameter, campanulate to widely bowl shaped, sometimes appearing flat-bottomed, usually nearly glabrous, the margin truncate, very well developed, with 10 linear, ascending to reflexed appendages 0.5–4 mm long that are connate at their bases emerging 1–3 mm below the rim; fruiting calyx enlarged, widely bowl-shaped, 2–2.5 mm long, 5–7 mm in diameter, the appendages 1.5–3.5 mm long, spreading to reflexed. Corolla 0.5–1.7 cm long, rotate to reflexed in orientation, entire to slightly stellate in outline, divided approximately 1/4 of the way to the base, the lobes with well-developed interpetalar tissue, white or white with a purple ring in the center, glabrous (except at very tips of lobes). Stamens nearly equal to unequal, the four short filaments 1-1.5 mm long, the one long filament 1.5–2.5 mm long, glabrous; anthers 3.5–5 mm long, lanceolate, free of one another, yellow, glabrous, poricidal at the tips, pores oval (sometimes enlarging by slitting laterally down the side of the anther), dehiscing distally. Ovary glabrous; style 6–7 mm, linear, straight to slightly curved, glabrous; stigma capitate.

Fruits:

Fruit a berry, 5–9 mm long, 5–9 mm in diameter, globose to ovoid, orange at maturity, glabrous, lacking sclerotic granules.

Seeds:

Seeds 20–60 per fruit, 1.5–2 x 1.25–1.5 mm, flattened, depressed ovate to reniform in outline, with notch on one side, orange-yellow to orange-brown, with minute serpentine pattern on surface.

Chromosome number:

Not known.

Distribution:

Lycianthes connata occurs in Mexico (states of Chiapas and Oaxaca) and Guatemala (Depts. of El Progreso, Huehuetenango, and Zacapa) in cloud forest, montane rain forest, bosque mesofilo, often with Quercus, Pinus, Podocarpus, Magnolia, sometimes on slopes, 1600-3000 m in elevation.

Phenology:

Flowering specimens have been collected from March through December. Specimens with mature fruits have been collected October through March. The diurnal movements of the corolla are not known, but as some specimens have open corollas, the corollas must stay open at least until late morning.

Commentary:

Lycianthes connata is a very distinctive species due to the structure of its calyx which has a very long, sleeve-like margin and appendages that are connate at their bases that are reflexed in fruit. The only species that can be confused with Lycianthes connata are L. ceratocalycia (Donn.Sm.) Bitter and L. gongylodes J.L.Gentry, both of which have stems that compress upon drying and short, bulging appendages that can give a somewhat similar appearance to the calyx. Lycianthes ceratocalycia differs in having stellate, purple corollas, equal stamens, and young stems with scurfy, horizontal lines; L. gongylodes differs in having equal stamens and stems that are moderately pubescent with curling trichomes. Lycianthes connata was originally described from Guatemala, and has been collected often in Chiapas. There are fewer collections from high elevation Oaxaca in the Sierra de Juarez. The Oaxacan populations are very like the Chiapas populations except that the calyx appendages are notably shorter, making the calyx look more like that of L. gongylodes or L. ceratocalycia.

References:

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.

Gentry, J. L. Jr. and Standley, P. C. (1974) Solanaceae. In Flora of Guatemala. Fieldiana: Botany 24 (part 10) no. 1–2. Chicago, Illinois: Field Museum of Natural History. Pp 1–151.

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 known.

Conservation status:

Lycianthes connata is a cloud forest species of Oaxaca, Chiapas and Guatemala, represented by 27 collections, four of which are from two protected areas. The EOO is 71,681.613 km2 and the AOO is 92 km2. Based on the IUCN (2019) criteria, the preliminary assessment category is Least Concern (LC).

Solanaceae Source

A global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family

Solanaceae

Lycianthes connata J.L.Gentry

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