Solanum corumbense S.Moore
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Authority
Knapp, Sandra D. 2002.
section (Solanaceae). Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 84: 1-404. (Published by NYBG Press) -
Family
Solanaceae
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Scientific Name
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Type
Type. Brazil. Mato Grosso: Corumbá, Jan 1892, Moore 974 (holotype, BM; isotype, K-n.v.).
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Synonyms
Cyphomandra verruculosa Hassl., Solanum verruculosum Hassl., Solanum tumescens S.Knapp
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Description
Species Description - Shrubs or treelets, 4-5 m tall; young stems glabrous or densely pubescent with small uniseriate trichomes, the young leaves densely red-papillose; bark of older stems pale greenish-yellow, on large stems reddish with large white lenticels. Sympodial units difoliate, geminate. Leaves elliptic to ovate, widest at or just below the middle, glabrous or sparsely pubescent adaxially, pubescent abaxially with tufts of simple, uniseriate trichomes in the axils of the main lateral veins, these often extending to the entire lamina, the lamina with dense deposits of crystal sand visible as tiny white specks with a dissecting microscope; major leaves 7-13 x 3-6 cm, with 7-9 pairs of main lateral veins, these drying yellowish abaxially, the apex acute to acuminate, the base attenuate, slightly winged onto the petiole; petiole 0.6-2 cm long; minor leaves differing from the majors only in size, 2.5-8 x 1-4 cm, the apex acute to acuminate, the base attenuate; petioles 0.5-1 cm long, winged along their entire length with the decurrent leaf base. Inflorescences opposite the leaves or occasionally internodal, simple, 5-10-flowered, glabrous or with scattered simple, uniseriate trichomes ca. 1 mm long; pedicel scars evenly spaced ca. 2 mm apart. Buds ellipsoid, strongly exserted from the calyx tube. Pedicels at anthe-sis deflexed, slender, 0.9-1.3 cm long, ca. 0.25 mm diam., abruptly widening to the swollen calyx, glabrous. Flowers sweetly fragrant (fide Nee), with the calyx tube swollen, broadly urceolate, 3-4 mm long, the lobes minute, deltate with prominent apical projections, 0.25-0.5 mm long, with tufts of uniseriate trichomes on the apiculae; corolla white, 1.5-1.6 cm diam., lobed ca. 3/4 of the the way to the base, the lobes planar at anthesis, papillose at the tips and margins of the lobes; anthers 4.55 x 1-1.5 mm, poricidal at the tips, the pores lengthening to slits with age; free portion of the filaments ca. 0.5 mm long, the filament tube ca. 1 mm long, glabrous; ovary glabrous; style straight, 6-8 mm long; stigma capitate, the surface minutely papillose. Fruit a globose, green berry, 1-2.3 cm diam fruiting pedicels woody, deflexed, 1.2-2 cm long, 0.5-1 mm diam. at the base, the calyx beneath the fruit strongly swollen and enlarged. Seeds yellowish-tan, flattened-reniform, 3.5-4 x 2-2.5 mm, the surfaces minutely pitted, the margin incrassate and darker. Chromosome number not known.
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Discussion
Solarium corumbense is closely related to S. leucocarpon, a widespread species of Central and South America. Characters in common are the swollen calyx in flower and fruit and apiculate calyx lobes. When I originally described S. tumescens it was from largely glabrous Bolivian specimens. Since that time many specimens of intermediate pubescence have been collected (e.g., Nee & Solomon 36658) and it is clear the two taxa are synonymous. Pubescence in S. corumbense is extremely variable across the species range, as it is in S. leucocarpon (see above), and may to some extent be related to the dryness of the habitat. As with many of the species in this group, S. corumbense is superficially similar to species of Solanum sect. Pachyphylla (Cyphomandra, also see Bohs, 1994). The close affinities of this group may lie with either sect. Pachyphylla or with sect. Cyphomandropsis, but this idea remains to be tested.
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Distribution
In subtropical semi-deciduous forest, usually in disturbed situations, Bolivia and adjacent Brazil and Paraguay, 300-400 m.
Bolivia South America| La Paz Bolivia South America| Santa Cruz Bolivia South America| Brazil South America| Mato Grosso Brazil South America| Paraguay South America| Concepción Paraguay South America|