Solanum stipulatum Vell.

  • Authority

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

  • Family

    Solanaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Solanum stipulatum Vell.

  • Type

    Type. Brazil. Rio de Janeiro:  Habitat campis apricis mediterraneis (No specimens extant; lectotype, Vellozo, Fl. Flumin. leones 2: fig. 117. 1831 [1827], here designated).

  • Synonyms

    Solanum rivulare Sendtn., Solanum undulatum Dunal, Solanum apodum Dunal

  • Description

    Species Description - Subshrubs or shrubs 0.5-2 m tall; stems glabrous, corky, pale and lenticellate; internodes short, 1 cm or less, strongly winged from the bases of the decurrent leaves, these wings not continuous, but beginning anew each leaf. Sympodial units difoliate, geminate. Leaves obovate to oblanceolate to almost linear, quite variable in shape, widest in the distal 1/3 of the blade, glabrous; major leaves 11-20.5 x 1.7-5.5 cm, with 7-10 pairs of main lateral veins, raised but not prominent both above and beneath, the apex acute to acuminate, the base attenuate, tapering to and decurrent on the stem; petioles indistinct; minor leaves oblong or orbiculate, 2.5-3.2 x 1.1-2.5 cm, the apex rounded, the base attenuate, tapering to the stem; petioles indistinct. Inflorescences opposite the leaves, filiform, simple, 1-2 cm long, 3-8-flowered, bearing flowers only in the distal third, glabrous; pedicel scars evenly spaced 2-3 mm apart, slightly corky. Buds obovoid to fusiform, the corolla soon exserted from the calyx. Pedicels at anthesis ca. 1 cm long, very slender, tapering from the calyx tube to a slender base ca. 0.5 mm diam. Flowers with the calyx tube ca. 1.5 mm long, the lobes short-triangular to deltoid, ca. 1 mm long, glabrous; corolla white, ca. 1 cm across, lobed ca. ½ way to the base, the lobes planar to somewhat deflexed at anthesis, the tips of the lobes minutely papillose; anthers ca. 2.5 x 0.5 mm, poricidal at the tips, the pores teardrop shaped; free portion of the filaments ca. 1 mm long, the filament tube ca. 1 mm long; ovary glabrous; style ca. 5 mm long, straight; stigma slightly clavate, not markedly larger than the style, minutely papillose. Fruit a turbinate, green berry, 6-10 mm diam., paler at the distal end, often very pointed \ fruiting pedicels deflexed, 1.2-1.4 cm long, not markedly woody, 0.5 mm diam. at the base. Seeds green when fresh, pale tan when dry, ovoid-reniform, ca. 10 per berry, 3-4 x 2-2.5 mm. Chromosome number not known.

  • Discussion

    Solarium stipulatum is morphologically most similar to S. leptopodum of Amazonia, sharing with that species difoliate, geminate sympodial units with markedly smaller minor leaves. It is convergent with other species of sect. Geminata growing in river courses (see S. amnícola, S. imberbe, and S. monadelphum) but this similar leaf shape is related to habitat, not to any real indication of relationship among these species. Solanum stipulatum is an easily recognized species, with its short internodes, striking oblong-lanceolate leaves, and white bark.

    Sendtner, in his treatment of Solanum for Flora Brasiliensis (1846), chose to ignore the Vellozo name, because he felt the plate in the Florae Fluminensis (Vellozo, 1831) was a poor one (“icon mala”). The plate is stylized, as are all the plates in Ve Mozo's Florae Fluminensis, but it clearly represents the same taxon as that named by Sendtner. The name was actually proposed by Martius, and perhaps Sendtner invented a reason to ignore the Vellozo name, so as not to offend his patron. The Vellozo plate shows a plant with winged stems with short internodes and oblanceolate to obovate leaves, both characteristic features of S. stipulatum, but the leaves are not geminate, as they always are in S. stipulatum. The inflorescences of the plant in the plate are depicted as axillary and one-flowered, while those of S. stipulatum are leaf-opposed and 3-8-flowered. In describing S. apodum, Dunal cited a Bowie and Cunnningham specimen in “herb. Banks,” now housed at BM. There are no sheets of S. stipulatum collected by Bowie and Cunningham at BM, but a sheet collected by Sellow (see above) has a label in Dunal’s hand, indicating he saw this material. The description of S. apodum matches this sheet, and so is here designated as the lectotype.

    Several varietal and subspecific epithets were noted on specimens by Bitter (in sched.) but never published. These in general were based on the extremes of leaf morphology in the species, which is quite striking.

  • Common Names

    canema mirim

  • Distribution

    SE Brazil, in coastal rainforest often growing in rocky creek beds, from 100-700 m.

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