Lycianthes ocellata (Donn.Sm.) C.V.Morton & Standl., Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 22: 274. 1940

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

32 Lycianthes ocellata (Donn.Sm.) C.V.Morton & Standl., Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Bot. Ser. 22: 274. 1940 Fig. 74

Solanum sideroxyloides Schltdl. var. ocellatum Donn.Sm., Bot. Gaz. 14(2): 28. 1889. Type: Guatemala. Department Alta Verapaz: Pansamalá, 3800 ft, May 1887, H. von Tuerkheim 1155 (holotype: US [00027797]; isotypes: GH [00934885], NY [00139029], LE [LE0017035], US [00027798].

Lycianthes sideroxyloides (Schltdl.) Bitter ssp. ocellata Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 405. 1919. Type: Based on Solanum sideroxyloides Schltdl. var. ocellatum Donn.Sm.

Type.

Based on Solanum sideroxyloides Schltdl. var. ocellatum Donn.Sm.

Description.

Scandent shrub to vine, climbing to 10 m (or more) into the tree canopy. Indument of pale-yellow to reddish-brown, uniseriate, multicellular, sessile or stalked, multangulate-stellate to geminate-stellate, eglandular, spreading trichomes 0.1-0.5 (0.75) mm long, 0.5-0.75 mm in diameter, the rays 5-8 per whorl, straight, not rebranched. Stems pale green (drying tan) when young, sparsely to densely pubescent, not compressed when dried in a plant press, becoming brown and woody with age; upper sympodial branching points a mixture of monochasial and dichasial, the branching near the tips of the plant not divaricate. Leaves simple, the leaves of the upper sympodia usually unpaired, the blades 3-11 × 1.5-5 cm, ovate, elliptic, or obovate, chartaceous to thick chartaceous, glabrous (especially adaxially) to moderately pubescent, the base cuneate to rounded, sometimes oblique, the margin entire, usually irregularly undulate, the apex acute to acuminate, rarely obtuse, the petiole 0.5-2.5 cm long, the larger leaf blades with 3-5 primary veins on each side of the midvein. Flowers usually in groups of 4-20, axillary, erect; peduncles absent; pedicels 4-10 mm long and erect in flower, to 15 mm long and erect in fruit, moderately to densely pubescent (the surface often obscured); calyx 2-3.5 mm long, 3-4.5 mm in diameter, campanulate, densely pubescent, the margin truncate, with 10 small obovate appendages 0.5-1 mm long emerging 0.5-1 mm below the calyx rim, the appendages sticky glandular when fresh, drying black; fruiting calyx enlarged, widely bowl-shaped, 2-2.5 mm long, 5-6 mm in diameter, the appendages not enlarging; corolla 0.6-1.2 cm long, rotate to reflexed in orientation, stellate in outline, divided 2/3 of the way to the base, with scant interpetalar tissue present at the sides of the lobes, white (lilac) and glabrous to sparsely pubescent adaxially, densely and evenly pubescent on the lobes abaxially; stamens equal, straight, the filaments 0.5-1 mm long, glabrous or with scattered trichomes, the anthers 3-4 mm long, lanceolate, free of one another, yellow to reddish-yellow, glabrous or with scattered trichomes, poricidal at the tips, the pores ovate, dehiscing distally, not opening into longitudinal slits; pistil with glabrous to sparsely puberulent ovary, the style 6-8 mm long, linear, straight, glabrous, the stigma capitate, decurrent down the sides. Fruit a berry, 5-7 mm long, 5-7 mm in diameter, globose, green to whitish when immature, orange-red when mature, glabrous or with scattered trichomes, lacking sclerotic granules. Seeds 5-10 per fruit, ca. 2 × 3 mm, flattened, thickened on edges, circular, depressed ovate, or reniform in outline, yellow-orange to dark orange, surface reticulum with minute serpentine pattern and shallow luminae.

Chromosome number.

Unknown.

Distribution and habitat.

Mexico (Chiapas), Guatemala (Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Quiché), in montane rainforest, cloud forest, high forest, on slopes, 1300-1800 m in elevation (Fig. 75 ).

Common names and uses.

None known.

Phenology.

Flowering specimens have been collected May to August; specimens with mature fruits have been collected June to August. Many specimens have closed corollas, indicating that the corollas are open for a short time during the day, probably during the morning. The first author observed that the corollas were closed in the afternoon in Guatemala.

Preliminary conservation status.

Lycianthes ocellata is an uncommon species of Guatemala and immediately adjacent areas in Mexico represented by only six collections, two of which are from protected areas (Lagos de Moreno, Mexico and Mario Dary Rivera, Guatemala). The EOO is 2,567.916 km2, and the AOO is 24 km2. Based on the IUCN (2019) criteria, the preliminary assessment category is Endangered (EN).

Commentary.

Lycianthes ocellata is closely related to L. sideroxyloides with which it shares obovate calyx appendages, stellate corollas, and yellow to orange, geminate-stellate trichomes. It differs from that species in having glandular appendages that are shiny and sticky when fresh and turn black upon drying. The corolla and anthers are also somewhat glandular and bruise easily when fresh, turning a reddish color. Lycianthes ocellata is mainly restricted to the cloud forests of Guatemala; however, there is at least one collection from Chiapas at the border with Guatemala that has calyx appendages with a black area.

Representative specimens examined.

Guatemala. Alta Verapaz: Cobán, 1350 m, Jun 1907, H. von Tuerkheim 1810 (GH, NY). Baja Verapaz: along Cobán-Guatemala Highway 14 near Biotopo del Quetzal Reserve, 15.2107, -90.2169, 1800 m, 9 Aug 2017, E. Dean 9505 (DAV). Quiché: Cerro Putul, "Zona Reyna," 5300 ft, 3 Dec 1934, A.F. Skutch 1835 (A). Mexico. Chiapas: E of Laguna Tzikaw, Monte Bello National Park, [16.0873, -91.6625], 1300 m, 13 May 1973, D. Breedlove 35135 (MEXU, MO).

Figures

Figure 74. Image of herbarium specimen of L. ocellata, Dean 9504 (DAV). Image used with permission of the UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity.

Figure 75. Map of geographic distribution of L. ocellata based on herbarium specimen data.