Solanum enantiophyllanthum Bitter, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 11: 224. 1912.

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

16. Solanum enantiophyllanthum Bitter, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 11: 224. 1912.

Figs 50 , 51

Solanum itatiaiae Glaz. ex Edmonds, Kew Bull. 27: 109. 1972, nom. illeg., non Solanum itatiaiae Dusén (1907). Type. Brazil. Minas Gerais: Campos de l’Itatiaia, près du Rancho, 19 Nov 1876, A. Glaziou 8867 (holotype: K [K000532495]; isotypes: P [P00336081, P00336082]).

Type.

Brazil. [Rio de Janeiro]: Serra do Itatiaia, Retiro do Ramos , 30 Jun 1902, P. Dusén 663 (holotype: W [acc. # 1909-007993]; isotypes: S [acc. # 04-2909], US [00027566, acc. # 1055545]).

Description.

Herbs or subwoody shrubs with lax spreading branches, 1-2 m high. Stems terete, sparsely pubescent with scattered white eglandular 3-4-celled simple uniseriate trichomes 0.5-1 mm long, glabrescent with age; new growth densely pubescent with white eglandular 3-6-celled simple uniseriate trichomes 0.5-1 mm long, these spreading or laxly antrorse; bark of older stems pale greenish grey. Sympodial units difoliate, the leaves not geminate. Leaves simple, occasionally shallowly lobed, the blades 3-15 cm long, 1.5-9 cm wide, elliptic to ovate, widest in the lower third, membranous to chartaceous, slightly discolorous; adaxial surfaces very sparsely p ubescent on the lamina with a few scattered white eglandular 2-4-celled simple uniseriate trichomes to 0.5 mm long, these denser along the veins; abaxial surfaces with the lamina glabrous and a few scattered white eglandular trichomes like those of the adaxial surfaces along the veins; principal veins 5-6 pairs, pubescent above and below, pale above and dark below in herbarium specimens; base abruptly attenuate or truncate, not markedly decurrent along the stem; margins entire or very shallowly lobed in the basal quarter, especially in larger leaves, all margins ciliate-pubescent with white eglandular 2-4-celled simple uniseriate trichomes ca. 0.5 mm long; apex acute; petiole 0.5-1.5 cm long, sparsely pubescent with simple uniseriate trichomes like those of the veins. Inflorescences opposite the leaves, unbranched or occasionally forked, 1-3 cm long, with 3-7 flowers clustered at the tip and the inflorescence subumbellate, moderately pubescent with white eglandular simple uniseriate trichomes 0.5-0.7 mm long; peduncle 0.9-2.5 cm long; pedicels 0.8-1 cm long, ca. 0.5 mm in diameter at the base, ca. 1.2 mm in diameter at the apex, spreading at anthesis, pubescent with simple uniseriate trichomes like those of the inflorescence axis, articulated at the base; pedicel scars tightly packed at the tip of the inflorescence, to 1.5 mm apart in the most basal flowers. Buds elliptic to obovoid, the corolla strongly exserted from the calyx tube before anthesis. Flowers 5-merous, cosexual (hermaphroditic). Calyx tube 1.5-2 mm long, conical, the lobes 1-2 mm long, ca. 1 mm wide, narrowly deltate to triangular with acute apices, moderately pubescent with white simple uniseriate trichomes like those of the pedicel. Corolla 1.9-2 cm in diameter, white or white tinged with violet, with a purple-green central star, stellate, lobed ca. 2/3 of the way to the base, the lobes 8-9 mm long, 4-4.5 mm wide, spreading or slightly reflexed at anthesis, adaxially glabrous, abaxially densely puberulent-papillate with tiny simple uniseriate trichomes to 0.3 mm long. Stamens equal; filament tube minute; free portion of the filaments ca. 1.5 mm long, with a few tangled simple uniseriate trichomes adaxially; anthers 4.5-6 mm long, 1.2-1.5 mm wide, ellipsoid, yellow, poricidal at the tips, the pores lengthening to slits with age. Ovary conical, glabrous; style 8-9 mm long, straight, exserted beyond the anther cone, densely pubescent with weak trichomes and papillae in the lower third; stigma not enlarged, merely a broadening of the style tip, straight, the surface minutely papillate. Fruit a globose berry, 0.7-1 cm in diameter, green when mature, the pericarp thin, slightly shiny, translucent, glabrous; fruiting pedicels 1-1.2 cm long, ca. 0.5 mm in diameter at the base, tapering to ca. 1.5 mm in diameter at the apex, strongly deflexed, not persistent; fruiting calyx not markedly enlarged or accrescent, the tube appressed to the berry, the lobes to 2 mm long, spreading. Seeds 20-30 per berry, 1-1.2 mm long, 0.7-1 mm wide, teardrop shaped, the surfaces minutely pitted, the testal cells pentagonal in outline. Stone cells 4, in the distal half of the berry, ca. 0.4 mm in diameter, cream-coloured. Chromosome number: not known.

Distribution

(Fig. 52 ). Solanum enantiophyllanthum is endemic to Brazil (States of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo) with most collections coming from the Serra do Itatiaia.

Ecology and habitat.

Solanum enantiophyllanthum grows in open areas along roads and grassland edges in high elevation forests and grassy habitats; from (1,000) 2,000 to 2,600 m elevation.

Common names and uses.

Brazil. Rio de Janeiro: erva-moura (Andrade 274). No uses recorded.

Preliminary conservation status

( IUCN 2022). Vulnerable (VU - B2 a, b(iii), D2). EOO = 14,689 km2 [VU]; AOO = 92 km2 [EN]. Solanum enantiophyllanthum occurs in widely separated high elevation populations (<5 locations) in the Serra do Mar of southeastern Brazil. Although it occurs in the protected area of Serra do Itatiaia at the junction of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and São Paulo States, we feel it merits some conservation concern because of its narrow range and the fact that it is not common where it occurs.

Discussion.

Solanum enantiophyllanthum is morphologically similar to S. paucidens with which it is broadly sympatric. Solanum enantiophyllanthum occurs within the larger range of S. paucidens , but at higher (usually above 2,000 m) elevations. The species can be distinguished by inflorescence morphology and anther length; S. enantiophyllanthum has flowers clustered at the tip of the (usually) unbranched inflorescence and anthers 4.5-6 mm long, while flowers of S. paucidens are spaced along the inflorescence axis and anthers are 2.5-3.5 mm long. The fruiting pedicels of S. paucidens are strongly curved at the base, making the infructescence appear somewhat secund, while those of S. enantiophyllanthum are merely deflexed.

The subumbellate inflorescences of large flowers and deflexed fruiting pedicels make S. enantiophyllanthum somewhat like S. macrotonum of northern South America, Central America and the Caribbean. The species differ in distribution, but also in flower size (corollas 1-2 cm in diameter, anthers 3-4 mm long in S. macrotonum versus corollas 1.9-2 cm in diameter, anthers 4.5-6 mm long in S. enantiophyllanthum ), calyx lobe morphology (broadly deltate in S. macrotonum versus narrowly deltate in S. enantiophyllanthum ) and in the number of stone cells in the berry (usually more than four in S. macrotonum , strictly four in S. enantiophyllanthum ).

Figures

Figure 50. Solanum enantiophyllanthum A flowering branch B flower C dissected flower D calyx E gynoecium F infructescence (A-F Hatschbach et al. 35846). Illustration by S. Montecchiesi.

Figure 51. Solanum enantiophyllanthum A habit B inflorescences with buds C inflorescence with flowers at full anthesis D Maturing fruits (A, B, D Giacomin et al. 2036 C Giacomin et al. 2039).

Figure 52. Distribution map of Solanum enantiophyllanthum.