Solanum bellum S.Knapp

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Solanaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Solanum bellum S.Knapp

  • Type

    Type. Ecuador. Morona-Santiago: along Río Metzera Grande on Hacienda Sangay (plantation of Companía Ecuatoriana del Té, C.A.) near Palora, selectively cut woods, ca. 950 m, 1°40'S, 77°58 W, 15 Feb 1984, Knapp & Mallet 6298 (holotype, BH, isotypes, F, NY, QCA, QCNE, US).

  • Description

    Species Description - Delicate shrub or small slender treelet 1-3 m tall; young stems completely glabrous, shiny and green; bark of the older stems gray. Sympodial units unifoliate. Leaves elliptic to lanceolate, widest at the middle, glabrous on both surfaces, the undersurfaces pale in both dry and live plants, 8-16 x 2-5 cm, with 7-9 pairs of main lateral veins, these raised above, in dry specimens somewhat prominent below, darkish, the rest of the venation obscure, the apex acute, the base acute, decurrent on the petiole; petioles 0.8-2 cm long, longer on older leaves. Inflorescences opposite the leaves, minute, simple, 3-5 mm long, 3-6-flowered, glabrous; pedicel scars closely spaced, but not overlapping. Buds globose, when very young minutely hirsute with uniseriate trichomes ca. 0.1 mm long or less, the corolla soon exserted from the calyx. Pedicels at anthesis slender, 6-8 mm long, deflexed, ca. 0.3 mm diam. at the base. Flowers with the calyx tube not much differentiated from the pedicel, ca. 0.25 mm long, the lobes broadly deltoid, minutely apiculate, ca. 0.25 mm long, glabrous except for the tips of the lobes; corolla white, minute, 4-5 mm diam., lobed ca. 2/3 of the way to the base, the lobes reflexed at anthesis, the tips of the lobes minutely papillose; anthers 1-1.5 mm long, ca. 0.75 mm wide, poricidal at the tips, the pores teardrop shaped; free portion of the filaments ca. 0.25 mm long, the filament tube ca. 0.25 mm long; ovary glabrous; style straight, in long-styled flowers ca. 3 mm long, ca. 1 mm long in short-styled flowers; stigma a papillose area on the tips of the style. Fruit a globose, green berry, ca. 1 cm diam. (immature); fruiting pedicels erect, woody, 2-2.2 cm long, ca. 0.75 mm diam. at the base. Seeds not mature in fruits examined. Chromosome number not known.

  • Discussion

    Solatium bellum is most probably closely related to S. unifoliatum and S. triplinervium from western Colombia, with unifoliate nodes and minute flowers, but is the only member of the species group to occur on the eastern slope of the Andes. Solarium bellum differs from those species in its fleshy leaves that dry pale on the undersides. The leaves on dry specimens are extremely pale on the undersides, and often the secondary venation is not at all obvious. Leaves of live plants develop a silvery sheen when growing in full sunlight, and are generally paler than those of other members of sect. Geminata.

  • Distribution

    In middle-elevation forests in eastern Ecuador, one recent collection from adjacent Peru, 900 to 1500 m.

    Ecuador South America| Morona-Santiago Ecuador South America| Napo Ecuador South America| Pastaza Ecuador South America| Peru South America| San Martín Peru South America|