Lycianthes pringlei (B.L.Rob. & Greenm.) Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 421. 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

36 Lycianthes pringlei (B.L.Rob. & Greenm.) Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 421. 1919 Fig. 82

Solanum pringlei B.L.Rob. & Greenm., Amer. J. Sci. ser. 3, 50: 160. 1895. Type: México. Jalisco: mountain cañons near Guadalajara [isotypes say Sierras near L. Chapala], 18 Nov 1892, C. Pringle 5343 (holotype: GH [00077531]; isotypes: MEXU [MEXU00028862, MEXU00029069], US [00027755], VT [UVMVT026445]).

Type.

Based on Solanum pringlei B.L.Rob. & Greenm.

Description.

Shrub, to 2 m tall. Indument of grey, uniseriate, multicellular, simple, glandular and eglandular, spreading trichomes (0.25) 0.5-1.5 (2.5), often glabrate with age. Stems pale green-brown and herbaceous when young, moderately pubescent, not much compressed when dried in a plant press, becoming brown and woody with age, often glabrate; upper sympodial branching points dichasial and monochasial. Leaves simple, the leaves of the upper sympodia usually paired and unequal in size, the larger ones with blades (6) 8-14 (18.5) × 3-9 cm, the smaller ones with blades 3-10 × 1.9-5.6 cm, the leaf pairs similar in shape, the blades widely ovate, elliptic, or obovate, chartaceous, moderately pubescent, the base truncate to short-attenuate, sometimes oblique, the margin entire, usually irregularly undulate, the apex acute to acuminate, the petiole (0.2) 1-4 (5) cm long, the larger leaf blades with 4-6 (7) primary veins on each side of the midvein. Flowers solitary or in groups of 2-3, axillary, oriented horizontally; peduncles absent; pedicels (5) 20-35 (45) mm long and erect to arching in flower, 12-35 mm long and erect to arching in fruit, moderately pubescent; calyx 3-7.5 mm long, 3-7.5 (11) mm in diameter, urceolate to campanulate, mostly glabrous except for spreading trichomes at the base near the juncture with the pedicel, the margin undulate, sometimes torn and the calyx appearing lobed, with 10 small triangular appendages 0.25-1.5 mm emerging 1-2 mm below calyx rim, these often reduced to oval protuberances 0.25-1 mm in diameter; fruiting calyx enlarged, widely bowl-shaped, 3-4 mm long, 7-12 mm in diameter, the appendages not enlarging, darkening in color; corolla 0.7-2 cm long (1.4-2.5 cm in diameter), slightly campanulate to rotate in orientation, entire in outline, with abundant interpetalar tissue, adaxially pale lilac to blue-purple with darker purple markings on the lobes, glabrous, abaxially pale lilac to blue-purple, glabrous; stamens unequal, straight, the four short filaments 1-4 mm long, the one long filament 3-7 mm long, glabrous, the anthers 3-3.5 mm long, elliptic, free of one another, yellow, glabrous, poricidal at the tips, the pores ovate, dehiscing distally, not opening into longitudinal slits; pistil with glabrous ovary, the style 6-10 mm long, linear, slightly curved, glabrous, the stigma capitate, slightly bilobed. Fruit a berry, 7-20 mm long, 5-12 mm in diameter, ovoid, orange to red at maturity, glabrous, lacking sclerotic granules. Seeds 90-200 per fruit, 0.8-1.7 × 0.6-1.5 mm, flattened but not flat, rounded on the edges, depressed ovate to round in outline, tan-orange to reddish brown, the surface reticulum pitted with loose serpentine pattern and deep luminae.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Distribution and habitat.

Mexico (Guerrero, Jalisco, México, Michoacán), in oak, oak-pine, tropical dry forest, and xerophilous scrub, often in moist or seasonally wet habitat, on volcanic soils, 1750-2100 m in elevation (Fig. 83 ).

Common names and uses.

None known.

Phenology.

Specimens with flowers have been collected from June through January; specimens with mature fruits have been collected from August through March. The first author observed in the field that the corollas are open in the morning and closed by afternoon.

Preliminary conservation status.

Lycianthes pringlei is a rarely collected species of western Mexico, represented by 36 collections, none of which is from a protected area. The EOO is 49,603.413 km2, and the AOO is 128 km2. Based on the IUCN (2019) criteria, the preliminary assessment category is Endangered (EN).

Discussion.

The calyx of Lycianthes pringlei , with its undulate margin that may look bilabiate and poorly developed appendages which often appear as elongated dark bumps, is uncommon in the genus. This feature, in combination with the very glandular pubescence and reddish-orange ovoid fruits, differentiate this shrub from all other species of Lycianthes in the flora area ( Dean et al. 2007).

Representative specimens examined.

Mexico. Guerrero: 4 km al sur de Tetipac, sobre el camino Tetipac-Taxco, [17.6355, -99.6487], 1820 m, 5 Dec 1982, E.M. Martínez-Salas 2863 (MEXU, NY). Jalisco: Área Natural Protegida Piedras Bola, 20.6489, -104.0435, 1947 m, 29 Oct 2011, M.A. García Martínez 128 (IBUG, MEXU). México: Nanchititla, [18.8346, -100.4071], 27 Nov 1935, Hinton 8750 (CAS, GH, NY). Michoacán: La Alberca de Teremendo de los Reyes, 19.8064, -101.4556, 2072 m, 15 Oct 2013, J. Contreras L. 93 (MEXU).

Figures

Figure 82. Image of herbarium specimen of L. pringlei, Dean 327 (DAV). Image used with permission of the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity.

Figure 83. Map of geographic distribution of L. pringlei based on herbarium specimen data.