Solanum nudum Dunal

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Solanaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Solanum nudum Dunal

  • Type

    Type. Mexico. Veracruz: Prope Jalapa, Humboldt & Bonpland s.n. (holotype, P-Bonpl. [microfiche IDC 6209-2:61 1.5]).

  • Synonyms

    Solanum anonaefolium Dunal, Solanum micranthum Willd. ex Roem. & Schult., Solanum antillarum O.E.Schulz, Solanum nudum var. micranthum Hassl., Solanum parcebarbatum Bitter, Solanum parcebarbatum var. minorifrons Bitter, Solanum supranitidum Bitter, Solanum tovarense Bitter

  • Description

    Species Description - Shrubs 2-5 m tall; young stems and leaves glabrous or minutely puberulent with appressed unicellular or uniseriate trichomes ca. 0.1 mm long, often drying black; older stems glabrous or with tufts of white uniseriate trichomes near the nodes; bark of older stems dark brown or gray, shiny, slightly winged from decurrent leaf bases. Sympodial units difoliate, geminate. Leaves ovate to elliptic, widest at or just proximal to the middle, glabrous and shiny above, with tufts of white uniseriate trichomes 0.5-1 mm long in the axils of the main lateral veins abaxially, the density of trichomes varying greatly; major leaves 6.4-17 x 3-9 cm, with 5-10 pairs of main lateral veins, these impressed adaxially in the Venezuelan high-elevation race, prominent and yellowish abaxially in all specimens, the apex acute, the base acute, to rounded, somewhat decurrent onto the petiole; petioles 0.5-2.5 cm long, slightly winged from the leafbases; minor leaves differing from the major ones in size and often in shape, elliptic to somewhat orbicular, 1.5-6 x 0.9-4.5 cm, the apex acute to rounded, the base acute to rounded; petioles 2-6 mm long. Inflorescences opposite the leaves, simple, glabrous or minutely puberulent with the same appressed trichomes as those of the young stems and leaves, 0.5-5 cm long, 5-50-flowered; pedicel scars closely spaced, but not overlapping, ca. 0.5 mm apart. Buds globose, the calyx lobes appearing as five rounded knobs in young buds, the corolla soon exserted, bright or pale green, the calyx white. Pedicels at anthesis white or greenish-white in live plants, deflexed, 0.7-1.3 cm long, tapering from the calyx tube to a slender base 0.25-0.5 mm diam. Flowers with the calyx tube conical, 1-1.5 mm long, the lobes deltoid, 0.25-1 mm long, glabrous or minutely puberulent; corolla white or greenish-white, 0.5-1.2 cm diam., lobed 2/3 of the way to the base, the lobes slightly reflexed at anthesis, the tips and margins of the lobes minutely papillose; anthers 1.2-2.5 x 1-1.5 mm, poricidal at the tips, the pores teardrop shaped; free portion of the filaments 0.1-0.25 mm long, the filament tube 0.25-0.5 mm long\ovary glabrous; style straight or slightly curved to one side, especially in dried material; stigma small-capitate, minutely papillose, bright green in live plants. Fruit a globose, green berry, 0.8-1.2 cm diam.; fruiting pedicels deflexed and woody, 1-1.7 cm long, ca. 1 mm diam. at the base. Seeds pale tan, flattened-reniform, 3-4 x 1.5-2 mm, the margins incrassate and paler, the surfaces minutely pitted. Chromosome number: n = 12 (vouchers Knapp 887, 4345, Knapp & Mallet 6791, 8480, 8515).

  • Discussion

    Solanum nudum is an extremely common shrub and small tree of secondary habitats throughout low-elevation Central and South America, but in some parts of its range (see below) it grows in higher-elevation forests. It often forms dense, monospecific stands in open areas and river banks. Solanum nudum is one of the most commonly collected species of sect. Geminata.

    Solanum nudum is remarkably uniform morphologically, considering its broad range. In Venezuela, high-elevation specimens of S. nudum have larger flowers and more coriaceous leaves than material from Central America and the Caribbean, but plants with all intermediates in both of these characters have been collected ascending the mountains. This large-flowered, high-elevation race has been called S. tovarense.

    Specimens from the Amazon basin, and particularly those from the area around Iquitos, Peru, tend to have much larger leaves than plants collected in Central America and the Caribbean. These Iquitos populations also have trichomes uniformly distributed on the inflorescence axis and on the buds.

    The name Solanum nudum has been used in several floras for what is now called S. aphyodendron (see Knapp, 1985). The holotype of S. nudum in the Humboldt and Bonpland herbarium at P clearly belongs to the material previously called S. antillarum so this name commonly used in floristic works in the 1960s and 1970s is a synonym of S. nudum. Further discussion of the nomenclatural changes and characteristics of the type at P can be found in Knapp (1985).

    Several lectotypification problems arose with respect to the synonyms of Solanum nudum. As a lectotype of S. antillarum I have chosen one of the many collections cited by Schulz in his original description of the species, Eggers 5039. A duplicate of this collection is found at US, and is in good condition. Others of the syntypes are sterile, and are otherwise not suitable for designation as the lectotype. The lectotype chosen for S. parcebarbatum is again one of many collections cited, and is well documented and in good condition. The specimen at US cited by Bitter (Pittier 2325) bears an annotation label in his handwriting. Solanum tovarense, the high-elevation Venezuelan race, is lectotypified with the first collection cited by Bitter in his description. Several specimens at G have annotations in Bitter’s handwriting, all undated. I have selected the sheet from the Barbey-Boissier herbarium as the lectotype, as duplicates of it are widely distributed.

  • Common Names

    huele de noche, sanptipuskat, yerba de barra, hoja de piojillo, diaper wash, lava pañal, sakyol, sac-yol, huis, hoja de tinta, wich tz’on chet, huele noche, saúco, hoja hedionda, ajicillo, tabaco cimarrón, arito, mantequito, saúco, zapata, saúco, sanco, saúco amargo, lulo, hedionda, tabacero, jonchimba choquinicco , zapata, zapata-chi, ataqui panga, Asna panga, asna panga cushnichina panga yura, ayac mullaca, asno panga, sacha conjompe, chiric sanango blanco

  • Distribution

    Widely distributed in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, from sea level to occasionally 2500 m, usually in secondary forest, often growing in dense stands.

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