Lycianthes connata J.L.Gentry, Phytologia 26: 271, 1973

Dean, Ellen, Poore, Jennifer, Anguiano-Constante, Marco Antonio, Nee, Michael H., Kang, Hannah, Starbuck, Thomas, Rodrigues, Annamarie & Conner, Matthew, 2020, The genus Lycianthes (Solanaceae, Capsiceae) in Mexico and Guatemala, PhytoKeys 168, pp. 1-333 : 1

12 Lycianthes connata J.L.Gentry, Phytologia 26: 271, 1973 Fig. 30

Type.

Guatemala. Huehuetenango: Cruz de Limón, between San Mateo Ixtatán and Mucá, Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, 2600-3000 m, 31 Jul 1942, J.A. Steyermark 49828 (holotype: F [0072906F, acc. # 1199398]).

Description.

Shrub, erect, 0.5-5 (7) m tall. Indument of white, off-white, or brownish, uniseriate, multicellular, simple, curved, eglandular, appressed-ascending trichomes 0.25-1 mm long. Stems green to purplish when young, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, compressed upon drying in a plant press, woody with age; upper sympodial branching points monochasial or dichasial. Leaves simple, the leaves of the upper sympodia usually paired and unequal in size, the larger ones with blades 4.5-16.5 (20) × 1.5-8.5 cm, the smaller ones with blades 1.5-8.5 × 0.5-4 cm, the leaf pairs usually similar in shape, the blades ovate, elliptic, or obovate, membranaceous, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, sometimes with purple veins, the base cuneate to attenuate, sometimes oblique, the margin entire, usually undulate, the apex acute to acuminate, the petiole 0.1-3 cm long, sometimes absent, the larger leaf blades with 4-6 primary veins on each side of the midvein. Flowers solitary or in groups of 2-5, axillary, erect or oriented horizontally; peduncles absent; pedicels 15-35 mm and erect to arching in flower, to 40 mm long, and erect to arching in fruit, usually glabrous; calyx 2-4 mm long, 4-5 mm in diameter, campanulate to widely bowl shaped, sometimes appearing flat-bottomed, usually nearly glabrous, the margin truncate, very well developed, with 10 linear, ascending to reflexed appendages 0.5-4 mm long, connate to each other at the base, emerging 1-3 mm below the calyx rim; fruiting calyx enlarged, widely bowl-shaped, 2-2.5 mm long, 5-7 mm in diameter, the appendages 1.5-3.5 mm long, spreading to reflexed; corolla 0.5-1.7 cm long, rotate to reflexed in orientation, entire to slightly stellate in outline, divided ca. 1/4 of the way to the base, with well-developed interpetalar tissue, white, sometimes with a purple ring in the center adaxially, mostly glabrous; stamens nearly equal to unequal, the four short filaments 1-1.5 mm long, the one long filament 1.5-2.5 mm long, glabrous, the anthers 3.5-5 mm long, lanceolate, free of one another, yellow, glabrous, poricidal at the tips, the pores oval, dehiscing distally, sometimes enlarging by slitting laterally down the side of the anther; pistil with glabrous ovary, the style 6-7 mm long, linear, straight to slightly curved, glabrous, the stigma capitate. Fruit a berry, 5-9 mm long, 5-9 mm in diameter, globose to ovoid, orange at maturity, glabrous, lacking sclerotic granules. Seeds 20-60 per fruit, 1.5-2 × 1.25-1.5 mm, flattened, depressed ovate to reniform in outline, with notch on one side, orange-yellow to orange-brown, the surface reticulum with minute serpentine pattern and shallow luminae.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Distribution and habitat.

Mexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca) and Guatemala (El Progreso, Huehuetenango, Zacapa) in cloud forest and montane rain forest, often with Quercus , Pinus , Podocarpus , Magnolia , sometimes on slopes, 1600-3000 m in elevation (Fig. 31 ).

Common names and uses.

None known.

Phenology.

Flowering specimens have been collected from March through December. Specimens with mature fruits have been collected October through March. The diurnal movements of the corolla are not known, but as some specimens have open corollas, the corollas must stay open at least until late morning.

Preliminary conservation status.

Lycianthes connata is a cloud forest species of Oaxaca, Chiapas and Guatemala, represented by 27 collections, four of which are from two protected areas. The EOO is 71,681.613 km2 and the AOO is 92 km2. Based on the IUCN (2019) criteria, the preliminary assessment category is Least Concern (LC).

Discussion.

Lycianthes connata is a very distinctive species due to the structure of its calyx which has a very long, sleeve-like margin and appendages that are connate at their bases that are reflexed in fruit. The only species that can be confused with Lycianthes connata are L. ceratocalycia and L. gongylodes , both of which have stems that compress upon drying and short, bulging appendages that can give a somewhat similar appearance to the calyx. Lycianthes ceratocalycia differs in having stellate, purple corollas, equal stamens, and young stems with scurfy, horizontal lines. L. gongylodes differs in having equal stamens and stems that are moderately pubescent with curling trichomes. Lycianthes connata was originally described from Guatemala and has been collected often in Chiapas. There are fewer collections from high elevation Oaxaca in the Sierra de Juárez. The Oaxacan populations are very like the Chiapas populations except that the calyx appendages are notably shorter, making the calyx look more like that of L. gongylodes or L. ceratocalycia .

Representative specimens examined.

Guatemala. El Progreso: On top of Montaña Piamonte, along Joya Pacayal, 3000 m, 7 Feb 1942, J.A. Steyermark 43677 (NY). Huehuetenango: Cruz de Limón, between San Mateo Ixtatán and Mucá [ Nucá], Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, [15.8306, -91.4447], 2600-3000 m, 31 Jul 1942, J.A. Steyermark 49828 (F). Zacapa: Mpio. Río Hondo, 1.5 horas N Finca Alejandra, 30 minutes S Cerro Paloma (P26-Proyecto Deslaves), 15.1569, -89.6178, 2512 m, 17 Mar 2012, C. Cifuentes 435 (BIGU). Mexico. Chiapas: Tzontehuitz. Mpio. Chamula, 16.6856, -92.5714, 2897 m, 28 Aug 1999, L.Y. Domínguez-Torres 105 (MEXU). Oaxaca: Dto. Mixe, Kets tekum, tonun Kux, [17.2523, -96.0292], 17 Jul 1994, Rivera-Reyes 3156 (IEB, MEXU).

Figures

Figure 30. Image of herbarium specimen of L. connata, Dean 9530 (DAV). Image used with permission of the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity.

Figure 31. Map of geographic distribution of L. connata based on herbarium specimen data.