Solanum longevirgatum Bitter
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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. Colombia. Cauca: an den Westgehangen der West-Anden von Popayán, 2000-2500 m, Jun, Lehmann 8511 (holotype, B [destroyed: F neg. 2667]; lectotype, F, here designated).
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Synonyms
Solanum crispulum C.V.Morton
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Description
Species Description - Slender, often unbranched shrubs ca. 2 m tall; young stems and leaves drying black, the stems hirsute with uniseriate golden trichomes 0.1-0.5 mm long, young leaves pubescent on the veins beneath; bark of older stems dark greenish-brown, with large white speckles, sparsely pubescent with uniseriate trichomes. Sympodial units unifoliate. Leaves ovate to narrowly ovate, pale yellow-green (fide Lehmann 8511), widest just proximal to the middle, with 5-8 pairs of main lateral veins, these raised above, the midrib yellow, all venation prominently raised and pale yellow beneath, occasionally pubescent on the veins with uniseriate trichomes like those of the young stems and leaves, 6.5-16.5 x 2.6-7 cm, the apex acuminate, the base acute, slightly decurrent on the petiole; cells of the upper epidermis in dry specimens very large, ca. 0.05 mm diam., bullate; leaf margins erose, especially on the larger leaves; petioles 0.7-1 cm long. Inflorescences opposite the leaves or internodal, simple, 1.1-1.5 cm long, 5-10-flowered, densely hirsute with the same uniseriate golden trichomes as on the young stems; pedicel scars evenly spaced ca. 1 mm apart, beginning ca. 1/2 way up the inflorescence. Buds globose, the calyx lobes acuminate in bud, fleshy, with uniseriate trichomes like those of the peduncle. Pedicels at anthesis deflexed, 68 mm long, tapering from a basal diam. of ca. 0.5 mm to an abrupt widening at the base of the calyx tube. Flowers with the calyx tube 1-1.5 mm long, slightly urceolate, sparsely pubescent with the same golden uniseriate trichomes as those of the peduncle, the lobes long-triangular, 2.5-3.5 mm long, fleshy in bud, later more petaloid, sparsely pubescent with the same trichomes as the rest of the inflorescence, papillose on the tips; corolla white, 1.1-2 cm diam., lobed nearly to the base, the lobes narrow, lanceolate, with a few scattered uniseriate trichomes on the outer surface, minutely papillose on the tips and margins; anthers 3-3.5 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide at the widest point, the terminal portion ca. 0.5 mm, paler, thickened and slightly narrower, ca. 0.75 mm wide, poricidal at the tips, the pores teardrop shaped; free portion of the filaments 0.1-0.5 mm long, the filament tube 0.5-1.5 mm long; ovary glabrous; style straight, ca. 4 mm long; stigma decurrent on the style, minutely white-papillose. Fruit and seeds not known. Chromosome number not known.
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Discussion
Solanum longevirgatum is unusual in the S. unifoliatum species group in possessing copious golden trichomes on the young stems and leaves. It is otherwise most similar to S. unifoliatum of lowland Chocó department, sharing with that species elongate inflorescences and often erose leaf margins.
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Distribution
Found only on the western slopes of the Cordillera Occidental in the province of Cauca, Colombia, from 2000 to 2500 m. Both type collections seem to have been from the slopes of Cerro Munchique, the highest peak in the Cordillera Occidental.
Colombia South America| Cauca Colombia South America|