Solanum nossibeense
Not known
Endemic to the humid island of Nossi-be near North-West of Madagascar, Antsiranana. No ecological information available.
Solanum nossibeense has not been included in any molecular phylogenetic analyses to date. It is almost certainly a member of the spiny Madagascar clade within the Old World clade (Levin et al., 2006). It is likely to be associated with the subclade containing S. myoxotrichum and S. pyracanthon.
Bitter, G. 1923. Solana Africana. IV.
Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beihefte 16: 1-320.
D’Arcy, W.G., & A. Rakotozafy 1994. Solanaceae.
Famille 176, pp. 1-146. In Flore de Madagascar et des Comores, P. Morat (ed.). Muséum National D’Histoire Naturelle, Paris.
Levin, R.A., N.R. Myers, & L. Bohs 2006. Phylogenetic relationships among the "spiny" solanums (Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum).
Amer. J. Bot. 93: 157-169.
Solanum nossibeense has large obscurely lobed leaves, white to translucent indumentum, up to 4-10 flowers per inflorescence, consistently tetramerous flowers and small curved spines not exceeding 2 mm. The microphyllous branches of S. nossibeense are slender, with leaves positioned mainly on long brachyblasts. These are similar in overall appearance to S. erythracanthum but have white to translucent (versus orange to red) trichomes, 4-10 (versus 1-4) flowers in most inflorescences and entire (versus entire to deeply lobed) leaves. Leaves begin to show obscure lobing with an undulate margin after they reach 5-6 cm in length. The larger leaved branches of S. nossibeense are robust and erect, with minor leaves ca. 2 cm long developing seemingly opposite the primary leaves, ca. 10 flowers per inflorescence, and virtually no prickles. These mature branches of S. nossibeense loose any resemblance to S. erythracanthum and appear closer to members of Solanum section Torva. The transition between the two morphologies can be clearly seen on Perville 357 [P00349146].
Solanum nossibeense is also similar to S. flagelliferum. Solanum nossibeense can be distinguished by its undulate (versus entire) leaf margins, petioles that are less than ¼ (versus more than ¼) of the length and ca. 10 (versus less than 8) flowers per inflorescence on its macrophyllous branches.
D’Arcy & Rakotozafy (1994) considered S. nossibeense to be a synonym of S. erythracanthum. Lester (unpublished manuscript) disagreed and moved S. nossibeense to section Torva, while keeping S. erythracanthum, S. batoides and S. flagelliferum in section Oliganthes. This treatment follows Lester’s interpretation but includes both varieties of S. nossibeense as synonyms.
Solanum nossibeense is endemic to the island of Nossi-be, close to the east coast of Antsiranana. No collections of it have been made since the four cited by Bitter (1923); no precise locality and ecology information is available.
Assigning a lectotype for Solanum nossibeense var. elongatius is difficult as it is unclear which part of Hildebrandt 3147 is indicated in the protologue and no extant specimens annotated by Bitter are known. Boivin 2099 [MO no. 5832903] is a close match to the holotype of S. nossibeense var. robustius and may be an isotype.