Solanum grandidentatum Phil., Anales Mus. Nac. Chile, Segunda Secc., Bot. 1891: 64. 1891.

Knapp, Sandra, Saerkinen, Tiina & Barboza, Gloria E., 2023, A revision of the South American species of the Morelloid clade (Solanum L., Solanaceae), PhytoKeys 231, pp. 1-342 : 1

23. Solanum grandidentatum Phil., Anales Mus. Nac. Chile, Segunda Secc., Bot. 1891: 64. 1891.

Figs 71 , 72

Solanum tarapacanum Phil., Anales Mus. Nac. Chile, Segunda Secc., Bot. 1891: 65. 1891.

Solanum tarapacanum Chile. Región I ( Tarapacá): Prov. Tarapacá, Chiapa, 16 Mar 1885, C.F. Rahmer s.n. (lectotype, designated here: SGO [SGO000004602, acc. # 055509]; isolectotype; SGO [SGO000004601, acc. # 042709]).

Solanum sanfurgoi Phil., Anales Univ. Chile 91: 10. 1895. Type. Chile. Región VII (Maule): "Maule, Inter Curanipe et Buchupureo", L. Sanfurgo s.n. (lectotype, designated here: SGO [SGO000004598, acc. # 055542]).

Solanum excisirhombeum Bitter, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 11: 1. 1912. Type. Peru. Ancash: Prov. Cajatambo, "In marginibus viarum prope Tallenga", 3,600 m, 14 Apr 1903, A. Weberbauer 2868 (holotype: B, destroyed [F neg. 2604]; lectotype, designated here: MOL [MOL00005705]).

Solanum myriadenium Bitter, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 12: 157. 1913. Type. Argentina. Jujuy: El Moreno, 11 Dec 1901, R.E. Fries 890 (holotype: S [acc. # 04-2955]; isotypes: G, P [P00335348]).

Type.

Chile. Region I ( Tarapacá): Paroma , 25 Feb 1885, F. Philippi s.n. (lectotype, designated here: SGO [SGO000004568, acc. # 055521]; possible isolectotype: SGO [SGO000004570a, acc. # 055520, left-hand plant only]) .

Description.

Small shrubs or subshrubs, 0.3-0.7 m high, sprawling to 1 m in diameter, the branches usually erect, but decumbent as they elongate. Stems terete or slightly angled, moderately to densely pubescent with whitish or transparent mixed glandular and eglandular 2-3-celled simple uniseriate trichomes mostly ca. 0.5 mm long, a few longer and to 1 mm long, the gland single-celled; new growth densely pubescent with whitish or transparent mixed glandular and eglandular 2-3-celled simple uniseriate trichomes ca. 0.5 mm long; bark of older stems pale brown, glabrescent. Sympodial units difoliate, the leaves geminate or not geminate. Leaves simple and shallowly toothed, the blades 1.5-6.5 cm long, 0.9-5 cm wide, ovate to elliptic-ovate, widest in the lower third to quarter, membranous to slight fleshy and rubbery (smell of rhubarb fide Knapp et al. 10219), slightly discolorous; adaxial surfaces moderately and evenly pubescent with white glandular 2-3-celled simple uniseriate trichomes 0.5-0.75 mm long, these denser along the veins; abaxial surfaces similarly pubescent with white glandular 2-3-celled simple uniseriate trichomes 0.5-0.75 mm long, with a few trichomes longer and to 1 mm long; base cuneate then attenuate and decurrent onto the petiole; margins shallowly and irregularly toothed, the teeth ca. 2 mm long, ca. 1.5 mm wide, with rounded to acute tips, the sinuses rounded, reaching to 1/6 of the way to the midrib; apex acute; petioles 0.4-1.2 cm long, narrowly winged from the decurrent leaf base, pubescent with a mix of eglandular and glandular simple uniseriate trichomes like those of the stems. Inflorescences internodal, unbranched or forked, 1.5-3(5) cm long, with 7-20 flowers clustered in the distal parts of the branches, pubescent with whitish or transparent mixed glandular and eglandular 2-3-celled simple uniseriate trichomes mostly ca. 0.5 mm long, a few longer and to 1 mm long, the gland single-celled; peduncle 1-2.5 cm long; pedicels 0.5-0.8 cm long, ca. 0.5 mm in diameter at the base, ca. 1 mm in diameter at the apex, tapering, spreading or deflexed, pubescent with a mix of glandular and eglandular 2-3-celled simple uniseriate trichomes like the inflorescence axis, articulated at the base leaving a small stump or peg to 1 mm long on the axis; pedicel scars 0.5-1.5 mm apart, small raised pegs. Buds globose, the corolla ca. halfway exserted from the calyx before anthesis. Flowers 5-merous, cosexual (hermaphroditic). Calyx tube 0.5-1 mm long, conical, the lobes 1-1.5 mm long, ca. 0.75 mm wide, broadly triangular, reflexed in both flower and fruit, pubescent with whitish or transparent mixed glandular and eglandular 2-3-celled simple uniseriate trichomes mostly ca. 0.5 mm long like the pedicels and stems. Corolla 1.2-1.5 cm in diameter, white, white tinged with violet, with a greenish yellow eye, stellate, lobed 2/3 to 1/2 way to the base, the lobes 4.5-6 mm long, ca. 4 mm wide, broadly deltate, slightly cupped (campanulate) to spreading at anthesis, adaxially glabrous, abaxially sparsely to moderately pubescent with white eglandular 2-3-celled simple uniseriate trichomes to 0.5 mm long, these denser on the tips and margins. Stamens equal; filament tube to 0.5 mm long; free portion of the filaments 1-1.2 mm long, densely pubescent with tangled transparent simple uniseriate trichomes adaxially; anthers 2-2.5 mm long, ca. 1 mm wide, plumply ellipsoid, yellow, poricidal at the tips, the pores lengthening to slits with age. Ovary conical, glabrous; style 5-7.5 mm long, strongly curved in bud, straight at anthesis, exserted beyond the anther cone, densely pubescent in the lower half with transparent eglandular simple uniseriate trichomes; stigma ovoid-capitate, green in live plants, the surface minutely papillate. Fruit a globose berry, 0.6-0.8 cm in diameter, green when immature, green with white stripes along the carpel divisions when ripe, the pericarp thin, matte to somewhat shiny, becoming translucent with ripening, glabrous; fruiting pedicels 0.9-1.1 cm long, ca. 0.75 mm in diameter at the base, 1-1.2 mm in diameter at the apex, not markedly woody, deflexed, not persistent; fruiting calyx not markedly enlarged or accrescent, the lobes to 3.5 mm long, the tips reflexed and sticky on both surfaces. Seeds 20-30 per berry, 1.5-2 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, flattened teardrop shape, reddish brown, the surfaces minutely pitted, the testal cells sinuate in outline. Stone cells absent. Chromosome number: 2n = 48 ( Chiarini et al. 2017, voucher Knapp et al. 10413; also recorded on sheets of Heiser 4863, 4910, 5002, 6036, 6062). Edmonds (1977) reported a count of 2n = 48 from Jørgensen 2632 collected from seeds grown from Heiser 5002.

Distribution

(Fig. 73 ). Solanum grandidentatum occurs in the Andes of Ecuador (Provs. Cañar, Cotopaxi, Chimborazo, Pichincha, Tungurahua), Peru (Depts. Ancash, Apurímac, Arequipa, Cajamarca, Cusco, Huancavelica, Huánuco, Junín, Lima, La Libertad, Moquegua, San Martín, Tacna), Bolivia (Depts. La Paz, Potosí), reaching northern Chile (Regiones I [ Tarapacá], II [Antofagasta] and XV [Arica y Parinacota]) and Argentina (Prov. Jujuy).

Ecology and habitat.

Solanum grandidentatum is a plant of medium to high elevation open areas, often along roads or streams, or in disturbed areas such as landslides or roadcuts. It seems to grow in more fertile soils and is often found directly outside dwellings or in waste channels. It is most commonly collected from (1,300-) 2,000 to 4,500 m elevation, but a single collection from near the Panamericana in central Perú (Ferreyra 18050, USM) probably represents seeds brought from the Andes in seasonal mudslides. Similar low elevation occurrences of high elevation solanums on the outwashes of ‘huaicos’ have been documented in the Tomato clade (e.g., S. corneliomulleri J.F.Macbr., Peralta et al. 2008).

Common names and uses.

Ecuador. Chimborazo: yerba mora (Acosta Solís 7598); Pichincha: hierba mora ( Cerón 15909). Peru. Huánuco: orqu qapachinya (Quechua, Carter 86). No uses recorded.

Preliminary conservation status

( IUCN 2022). Least Concern [LC]. EOO = 1,114,912 km2 [LC]; AOO = 300 km2 [EN]. Solanum grandidentatum is widely distributed and thrives in areas highly disturbed by people. In has been collected in several protected areas throughout its range (e.g., Parque Nacional Apolobamba, Bolivia; around the historical sites of Pisaq and Sacsayhuamán in Peru; Reserva Geobotanica del Pululahuá in Ecuador).

Discussion.

Solanum grandidentatum was long known as S. excisirhombeum (e.g., Edmonds 1972), but Philippi’s (1891) name has priority. This shrubby Andean species is morphologically very similar to S. fragile but differs in its shrubby habit ( S. fragile has a woody underground rootstock, and specimens often consist of the brittle, herbaceous stems only), its distinct somewhat musty odour when fresh, and narrower, lanceolate calyx lobes. Both taxa are densely glandular pubescent and lack stone cells in the fruit. Calyx lobes of S. grandidentatum are 1-1.5 mm long with acuminate or acute tips, while those of S. fragile are 2-3 mm long with blunt tips; leaves can also be useful in distinguishing the two taxa, those of S. grandidentatum are more attenuate at the base. Solanum grandidentatum is a tetraploid while the chromosome number of S. fragile ( Edmonds 1972, 1977) needs confirmation with vouchered accessions (see discussion under S. fragile ).

Molecular sequence data suggest the two species are not closely related ( Särkinen et al. 2015b; Gagnon et al. 2022), but this result could be affected by polyploidy. Both species are part of weakly supported groups (polytomies), but different ones (see appendix S11 in Gagnon et al. 2022).

The description of S. grandidentatum was based on specimens "Ad Paroma in rupibus lecta, nec non ad Sibaya" ( Philippi 1891), suggesting that the only relevant locality was Paroma. No collector or herbarium was cited, but the publication was based on Rudolfo Philippi’s son’s (Federico Philippi) collections from Tarapacá (done together with Carlos Rahmer). The introduction to the catalogue details when collections were done together and when separately ( Philippi 1891). We have lectotypified this name with a specimen in the herbarium in Santiago (SGO000004568, acc. # 05552) that corresponds with the protologue. The right-hand stem on an additional sheet (SGO000004570a, acc. # 055520) maybe a duplicate, and thus an isolectotype, but since dates were not mentioned in the protologue it is difficult to be sure; the left-hand stem on this sheet was collected by Carlos Rahmer in Sibaya and is perhaps the other collection mentioned in the protologue. Solanum tarapacense was described in the same publication, from "Chiapa et Calcallmay (3700 m.s.m.) lecta"; we select as the lectotype of this species an un-numbered collection of Carlos Rahmer from Chiapa at SGO (SGO000004602, acc. # 055509). Solanum sanfurgoi was described citing a collection of "Ludovicus Sanfurgo" without citation of a herbarium; we lectotypify this with a sheet collected by Sanfurgo in the locality cited in the protologue ( Philippi 1895) in SGO (SGO000004598, acc. # 055542).

Bitter (1912b) based S. excisirhombeum on Weberbauer 2868 in "herb. Berol."; this specimen is no longer extant, and we select here the sheet of Weberbauer 2868 in MOL (MOL0000575) as the lectotype.

Figures

Figure 71. Solanum grandidentatum A habit B detail of adaxial leaf surface C detail of abaxial leaf surface D bud E dissected flower F infructescence G fully mature fruit (A-D, F, G Saerkinen et al. 4003 E Knapp et al. 10324). Illustration by R. Wise.

Figure 72. Solanum grandidentatum A habit B flowers at full anthesis C maturing fruits D fully mature fruits (A-C Knapp et al. 10413 D Saerkinen et al. 4699). Photos by S. Knapp and T. Saerkinen.

Figure 73. Distribution map of Solanum grandidentatum.