Lycianthes pilifera (Benth.) Bitter

A Revision of Lycianthes series Meizonodontae
(UC) UC Berkeley/ (XAL) Instituto de Ecologia, Xalapa
Lycianthes peduncularis (Schlchtd.) Bitter
Mexico: State of Puebla; Mpio. Zapotitlan de las Salinas; San Antonio Texcala, along hwy
125, just S of Tehuacan. Canyon with onyx mine N of town. Grazing animals common. 5500
ft.
Dry matorral habitat with Agave spp., Opuntia and other Cacataceae. Schinus molle, mcsquite.
Acacia, Pltysalis, and Croton. Sloping sides of canyon, not right next to river where it is rocky,
also next to cultivated field with com. Soil brownish, with white rocks, limestone? Very
common plants, scattered throughout the canyon. Decumbent to prostrate perennial herb from
thick storage root; fruit yellow with purple blotches and stripes. Plants have abundant fruit,
lying on ground at the end of elongate pedicels. Immature fruit green.
Informant 1: woman washing clothes in stream. Use: fruit not edible. She has seen birds eating
the fruit after it dries. She wasn't familiar with the name "chichi de perra". Indigenous name:
tomatillo del monte.
Informant 2: son of man who cultivates field and his young friend. Use: fruit not edible. The
friend recalled his grandmother calling some plant in the canyon “chichi de perra”, but I had no
way of confirming that this was the plant. (L. ciliolata also grows here). Plant name: "chichi de
perra”?,
Ellen Dean 298	22 Oct 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
01424560