Lycianthes limitanea (Standl.) J.L. Gentry, Phytologia 26: 275. 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

26 Lycianthes limitanea (Standl.) J.L. Gentry, Phytologia 26: 275. 1973 Fig. 58

Solanum limitaneum Standl., Publ. Carnegie Inst. Wash. 461 (4): 85. 1935. Type: Belize. Camp 33 (on Guatemala-Belize boundary), 2850 feet [869 m], 24 Apr 1934, W.A. Schipp S-681 (holotype: F [0073115F, acc. # 733642]).

Type.

Based on Solanum limitaneum Standl.

Description.

Scandent shrub to woody vine, 3-4 (10) m tall, the lower stem to 2.5 cm in diameter. Indument of tan to orange, uniseriate, multicellular, short- to long-stalked, multangulate-stellate to geminate-stellate, eglandular, spreading trichomes 0.5-0.75 (1.2) mm long and in diameter, the rays 5-8 per whorl, straight, rarely rebranched. Stems greenish when young, densely pubescent, not compressed when dried in a plant press, becoming light brown and woody with age; upper sympodial branching usually monochasial, sometimes dichasial. Leaves simple, the leaves of the upper sympodia sometimes paired and unequal in size, the larger ones with blades 8-15.5 × 4.5-10 cm, the smaller ones with blades 1.5-4.5 (9.5) × 1-3 (4) cm, the leaf pairs similar in shape, the blades ovate to elliptic (often widely so), coriaceous, adaxially sparsely pubescent, abaxially densely pubescent, the base truncate to rounded (rarely cuneate or slightly cordate), the margin entire, usually undulate, the apex acute to acuminate, the petiole (0.5) 1-3.7 cm long, the larger leaf blades with 4-6 primary veins on each side of the midvein. Flowers solitary or in groups of 2-12, axillary, nodding; peduncles absent; pedicels 7-12 mm long and reflexed in flower, to 28 mm long and erect in fruit, densely pubescent; calyx 6-7 mm long, 6-7 mm in diameter, campanulate, densely pubescent, the margin truncate, undulate, or lobed, the appendages not present; fruiting calyx enlarged, bowl-shaped, unevenly torn and lobed, 3-10 mm long, 9-17 mm in diameter; corolla 1-1.5 cm long, open corolla orientation not known, entire to shallowly stellate in outline, divided ca. 1/4 of the way to the base, with abundant interpetalar tissue, white, adaxially glabrous, abaxially densely puberulent on the lobes; stamens equal, the filaments ca. 1 mm long, glabrous, the anthers 5-6 mm long, lanceolate, free of one another, yellow, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, poricidal at the tips, the pores ovate, dehiscing distally, not opening into longitudinal slits; pistil with glabrous ovary, the style 8-9 mm long, linear, straight to curved, glabrous, the stigma oblong, sometimes slightly bilobed, decurrent down two sides. Fruit a berry, 8-21 mm long, 7-22 mm in diameter, globose to depressed globose, green to white when immature, orange to red when mature, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, lacking sclerotic granules. Seeds 20-50 per fruit, 2.9-3.8 × 2.5-3.2 mm, flattened, with thickened margin, circular to depressed ovate in outline, yellow-orange to brown-orange, the surface reticulum in the center nearly smooth with indistinct serpentine pattern and shallow luminae, the texture on the margin wrinkled and rough.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Distribution and habitat.

Mexico (Chiapas), Guatemala (Huehuetenango, Izabal, Petén), and Belize, in tropical rain forest, pine forest, pine-oak forest, cloud forest, and tropical moist forest, both in primary forest and along road edges, on slopes and ridges, 80-1500 m in elevation (Fig. 59 ).

Common names and uses.

None known.

Phenology.

Flowering specimens have been collected December through May; specimens with mature fruits have been collected from March through October. The diurnal movements of the corolla of this species are unknown. The five flowering collections that we examined had closed flowers, indicating that the flowers must open and close very early in the morning or at night.

Preliminary conservation status.

Lycianthes limitanea is an uncommon species of southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, represented by 17 collections and occurring in two protected areas (Columbia River, Belize and Río Dulce, Guatemala). The EOO is 69,835.282 km2, and the AOO is 68 km2. Based on the IUCN (2019) criteria, the preliminary assessment category is Least Concern (LC).

Discussion.

Lycianthes limitanea is a distinctive, but poorly known and rarely collected, species of the Caribbean slope ranging from southern Mexico to Belize and Guatemala. It is easily identified based on its dense, tan to orange, multangulate-stellate trichomes, relatively large leaves, large calyces which lack appendages, equal stamens, and large, round fruits. Until this paper, the flowers had not been described in the literature, and of the 17 collections we examined, only five collections were in bud and three collections were in flower. All the other collections were in fruit. Therefore, the flower measurements in this description are based on dissection of a single flower.

Representative specimens examined.

Guatemala. Huehuetenango: Nentón, along the road from Nuevo San José Frontera to Las Palmas, 16.0333, -91.55, 900-1200 m, 17 Mar 2009, M.J.M. Christenhusz 5619 (NY). Izabal: El Estor, La Llorona, 15.5142, -89.4236, 500 m, 30 Aug 1998, M. Véliz 6652 (BIGU). Petén: on Melchor de Mencos Road, 8 May 1967, E. Contreras 6873 (MO, NY, LL). Mexico. Chiapas: Mpio. Palenque, 6-12 km south of Palenque on road to Ocosingo, [17.4468, -91.9623], 300 m, 10 May 1973, D. Breedlove 35007 (MO).

Figures

Figure 58. Image of herbarium specimen of L. limitanea, Cabrera 6091 (WIS). Specimen used with permission from Wisconsin State Herbarium, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Figure 59. Map of geographic distribution of L. limitanea based on herbarium specimen data.