Solanum vestissimum [Dunal ]

Solanum vestissimum

Citation author:

Dunal

Citation:

in DC., Prodr. 13(1): 322. 1852.

Type:

Venezuela. Caracas, 1842, Linden 219 (holotype, G-Boiss. [photos at GH, NY, WIS]; isotype, W [photo at WIS]).

Last edited by:

Bohs, L.

Written by:

M.D. Whalen, D.E. Costich and C.B. Heiser, Jr.

Habit:

Large, single-stemmed, lignescent perennials or small trees, divergently few-branched above, 3-5 (-8) m tall. Stems densely stellate-pubescent with closely spaced, mostly stalked stellae variable in size and texture (larger and coarser in Colombia), the stalks 1-4 mm, the lateral rays 7-10, ascending, 0.5-1.8 mm long, the midpoints about equaling the rays; prickles 2.5-7 (-9) mm long, 1-3 mm wide at base, often somewhat descending, sparse, spaced approximately by their length or more sparse on later growth.

Sympodial structure:

Sympodial units 2-foliate, geminate.

Leaves:

Leaves simple, large, the blades (25-) 30-45 (-55) x (20-) 25-40 (-50) cm, ca. 1-1.5 times as long as wide, broadly ovate, thin-textured, felty-pubescent, densely granular or strigose adaxially with sessile and stalked stellae, the stalked stellae scattered, rarely absent, with characteristic, broad-based, multiseriate stalks 0.15-0.7 mm, the lateral rays 4-8, ascending, 0.3.1.2 mm long, the midpoints 0.3-2 mm, the sessile stellae more closely spaced, with 3-5 weakly ascending rays 0.1-0.4 mm long, the midpoints exceeding the rays in length, 0.3-2 mm, occasionally with some of the sessile stellae with rays obsolete and appearing simple, felty-pubescent abaxially with closely spaced, interwoven stellae of mixed stalk lengths; prickles scattered along midribs and lateral veins, major lateral veins 5-7 on each side; base truncate to subcordate; margin coarsely dentate with 4-6 deltoid or depressed-deltoid, acute- or obtuse-tipped lobes at lateral vein terminations, the interlobal sinuses entire or with 1 or 2 smaller toothlike lobes; apex acute or obtuse; petioles 4.5-10 (-15) cm, 1/4-1/2 the length of blades, prickly and with stellate vestiture similar to that of the stem.

Inflorescences:

Inflorescences 1-5.5 cm, extra-axillary, often very close to a leaf pair, occasionally branched, with (10-) 15-30 flowers, the distal ones female-sterile and short-styled, the axes stellate-pubescent, prickly; peduncle 0.05-0.5 cm; rachis 1-5 cm; pedicels 15-30 (-40) mm in flower, 12.5-40 mm in fruit, usually somewhat flexuous, spaced 1-2 (-7) mm apart, articulated at the base.

Flowers:

Flowers with the calyx broadly campanulate, petaloid and approaching the corolla in color, the radius 11-20 (-25) mm, the tube 7-15 mm, 6-8 mm wide, the lobes 4-8 x 3-8 mm, narrowly deltoid to ovate-lanceolate, densely stellate-pubescent abaxially, more or less glabrous abaxially, usually more or less covering the bud until shortly before anthesis. Corolla 3-5.5 cm in diameter, 14-28 mm long, stellate, thin-textured, lavender to white, the tube 2-5 mm, the lobes 13-24 x 5.5-10 mm, ovate-lanceolate, stellate-pubescent abaxially, glabrous adaxially, rarely with simple hairs along midvein. Stamens with filaments ca. 0.6-0.75 mm; anthers 8.5-12 x 2.5-3.5 mm at base, linear-lanceolate, attenuate, more or less connivent, yellow, the pores minute and directed distally. Ovary stipitate glandular, the hairs appearing simple, but actually stellate with underdeveloped rays near base; style 11-15 x 0.3-1 mm in hermaphroditic flowers, cylindrical, stellate-pubescent and stipitate-glandular in lower half; stigma more or less capitate.

Fruits:

Fruits 1 (-3) per inflorescence, 5-7.5 cm long, somewhat smaller in diameter, 4-locular, ellipsoidal to globose, orange when ripe, with orange flesh, densely and persistently bristly, the stellae sessile or a few with short multiseriate stalks, the midpoints rigid, bristlelike, tawny, 4-6 mm long, the lateral rays 10-50, 0.2-0.3 mm long, inserted basally on sessile stellae, but inserted along much of the length of stalks in the stipitate stellae.

Seeds:

Seeds numerous, large, 3.8-5.5 x 2.75-4 mm, brown, lenticular, broadly ovate in outline, the surfaces minutely pitted.

Chromosome number:

2n=24

Distribution:

A species of cloud forest understories and openings, from 1200 to 2800 m. From Distrito Federal in Venezuela, west along the Cordillera de la Costa and Cordillera de Mérida to Tachira; in Colombia, from Boyacá to Norte de Santander in the Cordillera Oriental, in Antioquia in the Cordillera Central, and on the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

Phylogeny:

Solanum vestissimum belongs to the Leptostemonum clade of Solanum (Bohs, 2005). Within Leptostemonum, it belongs to the Lasiocarpa clade, a monophyletic group that includes most of the species traditionally recognized in Solanum section Lasiocarpa Dunal (Whalen et al., 1981; the S. quitoense species group of Whalen, 1984; Levin et al., in press). Within this clade, chloroplast sequences from the trnT-F region indicate that S. vestissimum belongs to a clade that also includes S. candidum, S. hyporhodium, S. lasiocarpum, S. felinum, S. pseudolulo, S. repandum, and S. quitoense (Bohs, 2004). Resolution is poor to non-existent among the species of this latter clade.

Commentary:

The following commentary is taken from Whalen et al. (1981):

The most striking variation in S. vestissimum is in vestiture and in corolla color and size. At the eastern extreme of its range in Aragua and Distrito Federal, Venezuela, the species consistently displays a dense granular-felty pubescence on vegetative parts, composed of small stellae with relatively short stalks, midpoints and rays. As one travels westward along the Venezuelan Cordillera and into Colombia, the indument becomes far more variable, and a high proportion of collections have larger stellae, more bristly in character, with elongate stalks and relatively long midpoints and rays. In the east, corollas are consistently lavender and small for the species, while further west, flowers are often larger, and white morphs become common.

Although fruits of S. vestissimum are large and have excellent flavor, they are difficult to eat or use in beverages. They are armed with a dense and persistent covering of stiff, sharp bristles, the elongate midpoints of the exocarp stellae. These bristles break off and become lodged in the fingers when the fruits are handled. It is difficult to imagine that they do no deter certain frugivores in the wild, as well. At full ripeness, fruits of S vestissimum are often observed to swell and burst, rupturing the pericarp and exposing the bright orange flesh and seeds. It may be at this stage that the fruits become attractive to frugivores and potential dispersal agents. Armed fruits that burst at maturity may benefit the plants by discouraging early taking of fruits before seeds are fully developed.

Two simultaneously published Dunal names are typified by elements of this species, S. vestissimum and S. scabridum. Since neither of these names has priority over the other and since their synonymy has not been previously recognized, Whalen et al. (1981) were free to choose between them under Article 57.2 of the code. Solanum vestissimum seems the most reasonable choice, because it has been consistently used for the species, while the identity of S. scabridum has been a point of contention and the name never extensively used.

References:

Whalen, M.D., D.E. Costich & C.B. Heiser, Jr. 1981. Taxonomy of Solanum section Lasiocarpa.
Gentes Herb. 12: 41-129.

Whalen, M.D. 1984. Conspectus of species groups in Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum.
Gentes Herbarum 12 (4): 179-282.

Bohs, L. 2004. A chloroplast DNA phylogeny of Solanum section Lasiocarpa (Solanaceae).
Syst. Bot. 29: 177-187.

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.

Levin, R.A., N.R. Myers, & L. Bohs 2006. Phylogenetic relationships among the "spiny" solanums (Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum).
Amer. J. Bot. 93: 157-169.

Genetics:

nuclear ITS sequence: GenBank AY263467 (voucher: Dickson 456, BH; from Plowman 13431, F) nuclear waxy (GBSSI) sequence: GenBank AY996477 (voucher: Movilla s.n., IND; from Heiser S432) chloroplast trnS-G sequence: GenBank AY998478 (voucher: Movilla s.n., IND; from Heiser S432) chloroplast trnT-F sequence: GenBank AY266264 (voucher: Dickson 456, BH; from Plowman 13431, F) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/viewer.fcgi?db=nucleotide&val=33355765 chloroplast trnT-F sequence: GenBank AY266247 (voucher: Movilla s.n., IND; from Heiser S432) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/viewer.fcgi?db=nucleotide&val=33355748

Solanaceae Source

A global taxonomic resource for the nightshade family

Solanaceae

Solanum vestissimum Dunal

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NCBI