Lycianthes quichensis (J.M.Coult. & Donn.Sm.) Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 428. 1919

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

38 Lycianthes quichensis (J.M.Coult. & Donn.Sm.) Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 428. 1919 Fig. 86

Solanum quichense J.M.Coult. & Donn.Sm., Bot. Gaz. 37: 422. 1904. Type: Guatemala. Quiché: Chiul, Apr 1892, E. T. Heyde & E. Lux 3450 (holotype: F [0073142F, acc. # 264727]; isotypes: G [G00379126], GH [GH00077532], M [M-0171931], NY [00139026], US [00624010], US [00027769].

Lycianthes obliquifolia Standl., Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 22: 101. 1940. Type: México. Chiapas: Volcán de Tacaná, 30 Mar 1939, E. Matuda 2938 (holotype: F [0072919F, acc. # 980247]; isotypes: A [00077523], MEXU [MEXU00082111], MICH [1109852], NY [00138706]).

Type.

Based on Solanum quichense Coult. & Donn.Sm.

Description.

Shrub, 1-5 m tall. Indument of white to pale yellow, uniseriate, multicellular, simple, acute, eglandular, appressed to spreading trichomes 0.1-1 mm long, the larger trichomes becoming flattened upon drying. Stems green when young, sparsely to densely pubescent, not much compressed upon drying in a plant press, brown and woody with age; upper sympodial branching points mostly monochasial, some dichasial. Leaves simple, the leaves of the upper sympodia usually paired and unequal in size, the larger ones with blades 4-15 (25) × 2.5-9 (14) cm, ovate to elliptic (sometimes very widely so), rarely lanceolate, the smaller ones with blades 1.5-9 × 1-5 cm, ovate, the blades of both the large and small leaves chartaceous, sparsely to moderately pubescent, denser along the veins and in the abaxial leaf axils, the base cuneate to truncate or rounded, sometimes oblique, the margin entire, usually undulate, the apex acute to acuminate, the petiole to 4 (6) cm long, sometimes absent, the larger leaf blades with 4-7 primary veins on each side of the midvein. Flowers solitary or in groups of 2, axillary, oriented horizontally; peduncles absent; pedicels 20-60 mm long, erect to arching in flower, to 70 mm long (probably longer), deflexed and arching in fruit, sparsely to densely pubescent; calyx 3-4 mm long, 3.5-6 mm in diameter, campanulate, often purplish in color, sparsely to densely pubescent, the margin truncate, with 10 spreading, linear-subulate appendages 3-6 mm long emerging 0.5 mm below the calyx rim; fruiting calyx enlarged, widely bowl-shaped, 2-5 mm long, 7-13 mm in diameter, the appendages not greatly enlarging; corolla 1.2-3 cm long, campanulate to rotate in orientation, entire to shallowly stellate in outline, with abundant interpetalar tissue, adaxially light purple with darker purple ring near the base and green markings at very base, glabrous, abaxially light purple, sometimes paler or white on the lobes, sparsely to densely pubescent with small trichomes near the veins; stamens equal, straight, the filaments 1.5-2 mm long, glabrous, the anthers 5-6 mm long, lanceolate, free of one another, purple, glabrous, poricidal at the tips, the pores ovate, dehiscing toward the style, not opening into longitudinal slits; pistil with glabrous ovary, the style 10-12 mm long, linear, glabrous, the stigma capitate. Fruit a berry, 9-17 mm long, 7-15 mm in diameter, usually ovoid (round), red at maturity (drying dark purple on herbarium sheets), glabrous, lacking sclerotic granules. Seeds 20-40 per fruit, 2.5-3 × 2-2.5 mm, compressed but not flat, ridged on one side or near the center, irregular in outline (shallowly crescent-shaped, triangular, or semi-circular), orange-brown, the surface reticulum with a serpentine to honeycomb pattern with deep luminae, appearing pitted, with fibrils protruding from the cell walls.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Distribution and habitat.

Mexico (Chiapas) and Guatemala (Chimaltenango, Huehuetenango, Quetzaltenango, Quiché, Sacatepéquez, San Marcos, Sololá, Totonicapán), tropical moist forests or thickets in cloud forest and oak-pine forest with Chiranthodendron , Symplocos , Drimys , and Clethra (in Guatemala often in Cupressus or Abies forests), 2200-3900 m in elevation (Fig. 87 ).

Common names and uses.

Guatemala. Chilete, choshel, coxel, flor de rosa, quilete, tomatillo blanco ( Gentry and Standley 1974)

Phenology.

Flowering specimens and specimens with mature fruits have been collected during most months of the year. Many herbarium specimens of this species have flowers with open corollas, indicating that the flowers must stay open until at least noon, if not after.

Preliminary conservation status.

Lycianthes quichensis is a rare species of Mexico and Guatemala, represented by 38 collections and occurring in seven protected areas. The EOO is 22,627.703 km2, and the AOO is 148 km2. Based on the IUCN (2019) criteria, the preliminary assessment category is Endangered (EN).

Discussion.

Lycianthes quichensis is an attractive shrub that horticulturalists are trying to bring into cultivation and is sometimes available in seed catalogues. It has relatively large purple flowers with distinctive dark purple and green markings and widely ovate leaves. It has sometimes been confused with L. pilifera , a species of Oaxaca, Mexico. The two species differ in fruit color ( L. pilifera has purple-black fruits) and pubescence (the trichomes of L. pilifera are darker and more tubular-conical upon drying than those of L. quichensis which are pale yellow to white and flattened upon drying) ( Dean et al. 2019b).

Representative specimens examined.

Guatemala. Chimaltenango: Volcán de Acatenango, [14.5255, -90.8753], 2800 m, 22 Apr 1999, M. Véliz 7020 (BIGU, MEXU). Huehuetenango: Mpio. La Libertad, Peña Blanca, 15.5075, -91.9158, 3193 m, 14 Dec 2000, M. Véliz 10846 (BIGU, CAS). Quetzaltenango: Cumbre de Alaska, [14.7560, -91.4705], 3100 m, 10 Sep 1999, M. Véliz 7285 (BIGU, MEXU). Quiché: Chiul, Apr 1892, E.T. Heyde & E. Lux 3450 (F, GH, M, NY, US). Sacatepéquez: Volcán de Agua, 14.4769, -90.7322, 2852 m, 6 Feb 2006, M. Véliz 16671 (BIGU, TEX). San Marcos: Mpio. San José Ojetenam, [15.2342, -91.9736], 3100 m, 26 Nov 2009, F. Pérez 18 (BIGU). Sololá: San Pedro La Laguna, Volcán San Pedro, ladera noreste del volcán, 14.6572, -91.2664, 3006 m, 28 Jan 2005, P. Pardo 27 (CAS). Totonicapán: María Tecún, [14.8341, -91.2174], 3000-3600 m, 12--23 Jan 1966, A. Molina R. 16399 (CAS-DS, NY). Mexico. Chiapas: Mpio. Chamula, Tzontehuitz, 16.8108, -92.5775, 2740 m, 20 Apr 1999, L.Y. Domínguez-Torres 70 (DAV, MEXU).

Figures

Figure 86. Image of herbarium specimen of L. quichensis, Breedlove 40387 (NY). Specimen used with permission from the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, New York Botanical Garden.

Figure 87. Map of geographic distribution of L. quichensis based on herbarium specimen data.