Solanum clivorum S.Knapp

  • Authority

    Knapp, Sandra D. 2002. section (Solanaceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 84: 1-404. (Published by NYBG Press)

  • Family

    Solanaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Solanum clivorum S.Knapp

  • Type

    Type. Peru. La Libertad: Between Huamachuco and Cajabamba, 3000-3200 m, 16 Mar 1948, Ferreyra 3059 (holotype, USM; isotypes, IBE, MO, US).

  • Description

    Species Description - Bushy shrubs, 2-3 m tall; young stems and leaves densely pubescent with dendritic trichomes ca. 0.5 mm long; bark of older stems reddish or green, glabrous. Sympodial units difoliate, geminate, or appearing plurifoliate due to rapid inflorescence growth. Leaves elliptic, commonly with several axillary shoots, glabrous (occasionally with scattered simple uniseriate trichomes on the lamina) and with a few dendritic trichomes along the main veins adaxially, densely pubescent with dendritic trichomes abaxially; major leaves 13-21 (-30) cm long, 6-9(-17) cm wide, with 7-9 pairs of main lateral veins, these drying yellowish, the apex acute, the base acute; petiole 2-3 cm long; minor leaves differing from the majors only in size, 7-10 cm long, 3-4 cm wide, the apex acute, the base acute; petiole 1-2 cm long. Inflorescences opposite the leaves or appearing shoot-terminal, 3-7 cm long, many times branched, 20-40 flowered, densely pubescent with dendritic trichomes; pedicel scars unevenly spaced 1-2 mm apart. Buds globose, the corolla only halfway exserted from the calyx tube. Pedicels at anthesis erect, tapering, 6-8 mm long, ca. 0.5 mm diam. at the base, densely pubescent with soft dendritic trichomes like those of the rest of the inflorescence. Flowers with the calyx tube conical, 1-1.5 mm long, the lobes deltate, 0.5-1 mm long, densely pubescent with dendritic trichomes; corolla white, 1-1. l(-2) cm diam., lobed 1/2 way to the base, the lobes planar at anthesis, densely pubescent on abaxial lobe surface with minute, dendritic trichomes or occasionally glabrous; anthers 1.5-2 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, poricidal at the tips, the pores not opening to slits; free portion of the filaments ca. 0.5 mm long, the filament tube ca. 0.5 mm long, with 5 triangular projections ca. 0.5 mm long alternating with the anthers and closely investing the style; ovary glabrous; style 3-4 mm long, glabrous; stigma capitate, the surface minutely papillose. Fruit a globose, green berry, 1-1.2 cm diam.; fruiting pedicels woody, erect, 1.5-1.7 cm long, ca. 1.5 mm diam. at the base. Seeds dark reddish-brown, flattened-reniform with thickened margins, 3-4 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide, the surfaces minutely pitted. Chromosome number not known.

  • Discussion

    Solanum clivorum is probably most closely related to S. oblongifolium and may in fact be a geographical derivative of that species. It differs from S. oblongifolium in its usually difoliate, geminate sympodial units, smaller, more membraneous flowers, and smaller berries on more elongate deflexed fruiting pedicels. The leaf and stem trichomes of S. clivorum are generally smaller and with less elongate branches than those of S. oblongifolium. In both species, however, the trichomes are transparent. The five projections from the filament tube that closely invest the style in S. clivorum are occasionally present in S. oblongifolium. In S. oblongifolium, however, they are not as long and are not consistent within a given population. These projections are found in all known collections of S. clivorum.

    Two recent collections from Cutervo province (Sánchez Vega 4510, Sánchez Vega et al. 5960) are unusual in their very large leaves, larger, waxier flowers, and glabrous corolla lobes. They may represent merely a geographical variant, but could also be a different species. No fruiting specimens have been collected from amongst these populations.

  • Common Names

    shirac

  • Distribution

    N Peru in the province of Cajamarca, in montane forest at 2000-3200 m.

    Peru South America| Cajamarca Peru South America|