Solanum leucocarpon Dunal

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Solanaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Solanum leucocarpon Dunal

  • Type

    Type, probably French Guiana, Île Ste. Marthe, Richard s.n. (holotype, P).

  • Synonyms

    Solanum surinamense Steud., Solanum coarense Sendtn., Solanum triste var. crassipes Dunal, Solanum patellare Van Heurck & Müll.Arg., Solanum brevipedunculatum Rusby, Solanum coibae L.Riley, Solanum eshbaughianum D'Arcy, Solanum extraxillare Klotzsch, Solanum diphyllum L., Solanum foetidum Ruiz & Pav.

  • Description

    Species Description - Foetid shrubs or small trees, 1-6 m tall; young stems and leaves densely hispidulous with minute unicellular or uniseriate trichomes to 0.2 mm long; older stems partially glabrate; bark of older stems reddish-gray. Sympodial units difoliate, geminate, anisophyllous. Leaves elliptic, widest at the middle, usually glabrous above, but occasionally with minute uniseriate trichomes along the veins, pubescence of the leaf undersides extremely variable, from glabrous to densely hispidulous with minute uniseriate trichomes along the veins, to densely pubescent with sparse to dense pubescence of uniseriate (occasionally branched) trichomes 0.5-1 mm long, along the major veins, but not on the veins themselves, these trichomes in some specimens extending to the lamina; major leaves 10-19 x 4-10.5 cm, with 6-10 pairs of main lateral veins, these impressed above, prominent and yellowish beneath, the apex acute, the base acute to cuneate, often oblique; petioles 1.2-3 cm long; minor leaves differing from the major ones in shape and size, the minor leaves orbiculate, 3.5-8 x 3-6.5 cm, the apex acute, the base rounded, occasionally somewhat cordate; petioles 0.51 cm long. Inflorescences opposite the leaves, simple, 1-4 cm long, 5-15-flowered, occasionally glabrous, more often densely pubescent with minute uniseriate trichomes 0.1-0.5 mm long; pedicel scars in pairs, the members of a pair closely spaced, the pairs 1-3 mm apart. Buds globose when very young, the corolla soon exserted from the calyx, and the bud ellipsoid with a pointed tip. Pedicels at anthesis 1.3-1.7 cm long, tapering from the calyx tube to a slender base ca. 0.5 mm diam. Flowers with the calyx tube 1-3 mm long, glabrous or minutely pubescent, the lobes shallowly deltoid, 0.1-1 mm long, apiculate, the apiculae often arising from below the calyx margin, covered with the same pubescence as the rest of the inflorescence; corolla white and waxy, occasionally with a purplish tinge, 1.5-2.8 cm diam., lobed nearly to the base, the lobes planar at anthesis, the interpetalar sinuses membranous, the lobes narrowly triangular, papillose to pubescent with uniseriate trichomes 0.5 mm long along the margins and at the tips; anthers orange or deep orangish-yellow, 3.5-6 mm long, the terminal 0.5-1 mm paler and thickened, 1-1.2 mm wide, tightly connivent at anthesis, poricidal at the tips, the pores teardrop shaped; free portion of the filaments ca. 0.5 mm long, the filament tube 0.2-0.5 mm long; ovary glabrous; style straight, 7-9 mm long; stigma clavate, minutely papillose. Fruit a globose berry, 1-1.5 cm diam., dirty yellowish-green when ripe; fruiting pedicels woody, deflexed, 1-1.5(2.5) cm long (longest in Isla de Coiba, Panama populations), ca. 1 mm diam. at the base, greatly expanded to ca. 5 mm diam. about 5 mm from the apex. Seeds pale yellowish-tan, flattened-reniform, 3-3.5 x 1.5-2 mm, the margins incrassate, the surfaces minutely pitted. Chromosome number: n = 12 (voucher Knapp 6241, 6836).

  • Discussion

    The flowers of Solanum leucocarpon are reminiscent of those of Cyphomandra (Solanum sect. Pachyphylla sensu Bohs, 1995; see also Bohs, 1994), and specimens have occasionally been identified as such. Flower size, calyx lobing, and size of the lobe apices vary somewhat throughout the range of S. leucocarpon, and leaf pubescence is enormously variable. Solanum leucocarpon is one of the most widespread and variable species in sect. Geminata. Found from Panama through the Amazon basin, its diverse pubescence and flower size forms have received many names. These somewhat distinctive local forms are treated here as unnamed geographical races, as intermediates in all variable characters exist. These races are briefly described below.

    1. In northern South America and the Guianas, plants have large, fleshy flowers and are pubescent on the leaf undersides. The trichomes are long and slender, uniseriate, and either simple or branched, with both types usually occurring on a single leaf. The type specimens of Solanum leucocarpon, S. surinamense, andN. extraxillare come from among these populations.

    2. In the area around Manaus and in the Rio Negro basin, populations of almost completely glabrous plants with somewhat smaller flowers are common. These plants have been called Solanum coarense.

    3. Populations from the eastern (Peru and Ecuador) and southeastern (states of Rondônia and Mato Grosso) Amazon basin consist largely of plants with smaller flowers and shorter leaf pubescence. The leaf pubescence of plants from these populations is generally of tiny, erect, usually simple, uniseriate trichomes. Occasionally some longer trichomes like those of Guianan plants are found along the midrib on the leaf undersides. These plants have been called Solanum patellare.

    4. Plants from the mountains of western Guyana have shiny, glabrous leaves and relatively small flowers. Very few collections exist from these glabrous populations.

    5. Two extreme forms are found in Panama, both known from only one or two collections. Very pubescent plants from Darién province have been called Solanum eshbaughianum, and nearly glabrous ones from Isla de Coiba (Veraguas) have been called S. coibac. The fruiting pedicels of the glabrous Panamanian race are somewhat longer than those from other populations, but they have the distinctive distal swelling characteristic of S. leucocarpon.

    Solanum leucocarpon is a shrub or small tree of secondary habitats, and is rarely found in the primary forest. In the Guianas it grows along forest edges in savannah, as well in many other types of secondary or highly disturbed habitats. This is one of the few species of sect. Geminata that I have seen only in secondary habitats and is also one of the most commonly collected species in the section.

    Specimens cited as Solanum brevipedunculatum by Cabrera (1978) from Jujuy province, Argentina, may be members of Solanum sect. Cyphomandropsis Bitter. Members of this section share elongate, pointed buds with the S. leucocarpon group, but have elongate inflorescences with widely and unevenly spaced pedicel scars and brightly colored, few-seeded fruits. Section Cyphomandropsis is well developed in drier areas in eastern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina and is currently being monographed by L. Bohs (see Bohs, 1994 for a preliminary list).

  • Common Names

    monaigi, huevo de gato, aboepan, parabita, parabeita, bradebeita, todobita, soekaradang, koeroeliwa, boesibita, mananga, abo pao , monagui, erva livriana, gurac chiric sanango

  • Distribution

    Widely distributed throughout tropical South America to Panama, in second growth situations from sea level to 1500 m.

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