Solanum lasiocladum S.Knapp
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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. Venezuela. Anzoátegui: Libertad, ridges and tops of Montañas Negras, along Sucre-Anzoátegui border, 20 air km NE of Bergantín, NE of Buenos Aires, Serranía de Turimiquire, summit elfin forest, 2350 m, 10°04'30"N, 64°11'W, 28 Nov 1981, Davidse & González 19541 (holotype, VEN; isotype, MO).
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Description
Species Description - Shrubs or small trees, 8-9 m tall; young stems and leaves densely pubescent with golden uniseriate trichomes of varying lengths, 0.1-1 mm long; older stems remaining pubescent and golden; bark of older stems reddish. Sympodial units difoliate, geminate. Leaves elliptic, widest at the middle, shiny and sparsely pubescent above with erect uniseriate trichomes ca. 0.5 mm long, the trichomes denser along the veins, the upper epidermis large-celled, densely golden pubescent beneath with uniseriate trichomes of varying lengths, these 0.1-1 mm long, denser along the veins; major leaves 7.5-15 x 3-6.5 cm wide, with 8-9 pairs of main lateral veins, these raised and pubescent above, prominent and densely pubescent beneath, the apex acute to acuminate, the base acute, not decurrent on the petiole; petioles 1-3 cm long; minor leaves differing from the major ones mainly in size, but occasionally equal in size to the major leaves, 5.5-10 x 2.2-6 cm wide, the apex acute, the base acute; petioles 1-3 cm long. Inflorescences opposite the leaves, simple or once-furcate, 15 cm long, 3-10-flowered, densely pubescent with golden uniseriate trichomes like those of the young stems and leaves; pedicel scars slightly raised and corky, in pairs, the members of a pair closely spaced, the pairs ca. 1 mm apart, the scars not obscured by the pubescence. Buds elliptic, densely golden pubescent, the trichomes denser along the ribs of the lobes, the corolla late exserted from the tube. Pedicels at anthesis deflexed, ca. 9 mm long, tapering from the conical calyx tube to a slender base ca. 0.5 mm diam., pubescent with golden trichomes of varying lengths, these 0.1-1 mm long. Flowers with the calyx tube conically cup-shaped, 1.5-2 mm long, strongly 5-ribbed, the sinuses hyaline, the lobes narrowly triangular, appearing as mere extensions of the ribs of the tube, 0.5-1 m long, the entire calyx golden pubescent with uniseriate trichomes, these denser along the ribs and lobes; corolla white, 1.2-1.5 cm diam., lobed nearly to the base, the lobes somewhat reflexed at anthesis, the tips and margins of the lobes densely pubescent with short uniseriate trichomes ca. 0.2 mm long; anthers 3-3.5 mm long, 1 mm wide, poricidal at the tips, the pores teardrop shaped; free portion of the fdaments ca. 0.5 mm long, the filament tube ca. 1 mm long; ovary glabrous; style straight, 6-6.5 mm long; stigma a broad area on the tip of the style, minutely papillose. Fruit a globose, green berry, ca. 1 cm diam fruiting pedicels woody, deflexed or appearing somewhat erect when the fruit is immature, 1.5-1.8 cm long, ca. 1 mm diam. at the base, sparsely pubescent with golden uniseriate trichomes. Seeds dark brown, ovoid-reniform(?), ca. 2 mm long, 1 mm wide (immature), the surfaces minutely pitted. Chromosome number not known.
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Discussion
Solanum lasiocladum is quite similar to S. malacothrix, from Guerrero in western Mexico. It shares with that species the dense indument of uniseriate trichomes, but differs in its larger minor leaves, longer inflorescences, long-petiolate leaves, and larger flowers. The summit of the Serranía de Turimiquire has only been ascended by botanists a few times, and twice S. lasiocladum has been collected, but no mention of its local abundance is made on either label. The Serranía de Turimiquire is isolated and is often covered with clouds.
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Distribution
Known only from the summit of the Serranía de Turimiquire on the border of Sucre and Anzoátegui in Venezuela at 2350 m elevation.
Venezuela South America| Anzoátegui Venezuela South America|