Lycianthes acapulcensis (Baill.) D'Arcy

A Revision of Lycianthes series Meizonodontae
(UC) UC Berkeley/ (XAL) Institute) de Ecologia, Xalapa
Lycianthes acapulcensis (Baillon) Bitter
Mexico: State of Guerrero; Mpio. Taxco; town of Landa, just W of main part of town, along
rd to Ixcateopan. 1890 m.
Slopes with coffee and fruit trees above the road, property of Sr. Ocampo, and also below the
road along path to cultivated fields. Shady moist habitat. There were several plants in the
cultivated field of Sra. Lorenza, growing with com, beans and squash. Soil dark and rich, with
white rocks (limestone?). Common, but only in certain places. Perennial herb from storage
root. Some plants with long main stem and branched above to 2.S ft, others shorter with many
lower branches. Abundant fruit, black-purple. One plant with more than 12 fruit. Fruit have
separated from some of the calyces. Sr. Ocampo thinks that a bird called "el mulato" eats the
fruit.
Informant: Sr. Marcelano Ocampo. Use: The fruit is edible, but not commonly eaten here. He
knows the plant comes from a large tuber. He has seen the plant in the mountains above
Landa, and those plants bear very few fruit, one or two per plant. He is the person who
showed us the plants in the com field. Indigenous name: "maravilla"
Ellen Dean 313	6 Nov 1991
with Thomas Starbuck
Fieldwork supported by grants and fellowships from:
the National Science Foundation, Explorer's Club, Sigma Xi, Hardman Foundation,
Tinker Foundation, and UC Berkeley
01424472