Solanum maglia
2n = 3x = 36 voucher: Juzepczuk s.n. (LE) (Hijmans, et al. 2007)
2n = 2x = 24 voucher: Clausen & Masueii 869 (BAL) (Hijmans, et al. 2007)
Solanum maglia is known from western Argentina (Prov. Mendoza); central and south Chile (Regions V, VII, VIII, IX, X). In Argentina S. maglia is found in a humid gorge close to a river that carries water the whole year, under the shade of the vegetation, bushes or ferns, in sandy and stony soil, 1400-1820 m. This gorge, unlike other gorges in that area, is deep and narrow with habitats shaded throughout the day. It is possible that the species is limited in Argentina to this locality. In Chile, it is found in coastal humid valleys, among rocks and sand, sea level to (estimated) 1200 m.
Solanum maglia is a member of Solanum sect. Petota Dumort., the tuber-bearing cultivated and wild potatoes. 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 (1990) placed this species as the sole representative of series Maglia Bitter, focusing on the unique anther type for sect. Petota.
Brücher, H.E. 1965. Über eine "maritime" Wildkartoffel (S. maglia Molina) im argentinischen Anden-Gebirge.
Ber. Deutschen Bot. Gesells. 78: 492-498.
Hawkes, J.G. & J.P. Hjerting 1969. The potatoes of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay: a biosystematic study.
Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, UK.
Contreras-M., A. 1987. Germoplasma chileno de papas (Solanum spp.).
An. Simp. Recursos Fitogenéticos, Valdivia, 1984. Univ. Austral Chile, Int. Board P. Genet. Res.: 43-75.
Hawkes, J.G. 1990. The potato: evolution, biodiversity and genetic resources.
Oxford: Belhaven Press.
Spooner, D.M. & A. Clausen 1993. Wild potato (Solanum sect. Petota) germplasm collecting expedition to Argentina in 1990, and status of Argentinean potato germplasm resources.
Potato Res. 36: 3-12.
Ispizúa, V.N., E.L. Camadro & A.M. Clausen 1999. Pre-zygotic breeding barriers between the wild diploid potato species Solanum maglia and S. kurtzianum from Argentina.
Genet. Res. Crop Evol. 46: 243–249, 1999.
Bamberg, J., A. del Rio, Z. Huamán, S. Vega, M. Martin, A. Salas, J. Pavek, S. Kiru, C. Fernandez, & D.M. Spooner 2003. A decade of collecting and research on wild potatoes of the southwest USA.
Amer. J. Potato Res. 80: 159-172.
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.
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).
Global Ecol. Biogeogr. 16: 485-495.
Mitotic chromosome counts made by Clausen of two of populations of S. maglia in Argentina (Clausen & Masuelli 869, 870) were diploid (2n = 24), in agreement with prior reports from the Argentinean populations (Brücher, 1965; Hawkes and Hjerting, 1969). Some Chilean populations are triploid (2n = 3x = 36) that reproduce only by tubers (Hawkes and Hjerting, 1969). Contreras (1987) did not report chromosome counts of the accessions held at the gene bank of the Universidad Austral de Chile. Spooner et al. (1991) collected tubers of S. maglia suspected to be triploid because the flowers dropped before producing fruits.
Solanum maglia has an interesting distribution. Most Chilean populations are in isolated moist habitats along the coast of Chile, and in Argentina it grown in a single valley in Argentina, Mendoza Province, Quebrada de Alvarado, at the base of the Andes Mountains (Hawkes and Hjerting, 1969; Contreras, 1987; Spooner et al., 1991). The populations in Argentina flowered freely, but no fruits were found. The only other tuber-bearing species growing in the vicinity of S. maglia in Argentina is S. kurtzianum, but usually in the Monte phytogeographical province, although recently Masuelli (pers. com) reported the finding of S. kurtzianum within this Quebrada.
Clausen and Masuelli made five collections of S. maglia along a distance of 5 km in the Quebrada de Alvarado, between 1630 and 1820 m (Spooner and Clausen, 1993). The plants were profusely flowering but not bearing fruits, and only tubers could be collected. Attempts to produce seeds by crossing the accessions brought into cultivation in a field station in Balcarce Argentina were unsuccessful. Crossability studies of these accessions of S. maglia with S. kurtzianum were carried out by Ispizúa, et al. (1999).
Solanum maglia is distinguished by its relatively broad leaflets, especially the terminal leaflet, and by its anthers with the tissue grading into the filaments rather than with distinct filaments.