Solanum leucocarpon
| Solanum leucocarpon | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Solanum leucocarpon | ||||||||||||
| Dunal |
Solanum leucocarpon is a species of the genus nightshade ( Solanum ). Within the genus it is classified in the Geminata clade, within this clade it is the most widespread species and shows strong morphological fluctuations in the range.
description
Habit and leaves
Solanum leucocarpon is a shrub or small tree that can grow up to six meters in height , the young stems and leaves of which are dense, hairy with fine single-cell or single-row trichomes up to 0.2 mm in length. This hairiness is partially absent on older trunks, the bark is reddish-gray.
Two leaves of different shapes stand together, the only differences between the two leaf shapes are in size and shape. The larger ones are 10 to 19 × 4 to 10.5 cm in size, have six to ten pairs of main veins that are deepened on the top and protruding and yellowish on the underside. The tip is pointed, the base pointed to (often unevenly) wedge-shaped. The leaf stalks are 1.2 to 3 cm long. The leaves of the smaller leaf shape are 3.5 to 8 × 3 to 6.5 cm long, the tip is pointed, the base rounded, occasionally somewhat heart-shaped. The leaf stalks are 0.5 to 1 cm long. The basic shape of all leaves is elliptical with the greatest width in the middle. The top is usually hairless, and single-row trichomes are rarely found on the leaf veins. The hairiness on the underside is highly variable, there are specimens without hair, with dense, single-row bristle hair along the veins or also thick hair with sparse to dense hair along the main veins, but not on the veins themselves, in some specimens this hairiness also spreads except for the leaf surface.
Inflorescences and flowers
The simple inflorescences are opposite to the leaves, are 1 to 4 cm long, consist of five to 15 flowers , are occasionally hairless, but mostly hairy with fine, single-row trichomes between 0.1 and 0.5 mm in length. The leaf stalk scars occur in pairs that are close together, with a distance of 1 to 3 mm between two pairs. The young buds are spherical, soon they are pierced by the crown , so that the bud appears pointed ellipsoid. During flowering, the flower stalks are 1.3 to 1.7 cm long and 0.5 mm thick, while the fruit ripe the flower stalks lignify, become 1 to 1.5 (2.5) cm long and thicken to 1 mm at the Base up to 5 mm about 5 mm below the tip.
The calyx consists of a 1 to 3 mm long calyx tube which is hairless or finely haired and has only weakly pronounced, triangular 0.1 to 1 mm long calyx lobes. These calyx lobes are pointed, the tapering often begins below the edge of the calyx. The crown is white and waxy, partly with a purple tint, 1.5 to 2.8 cm in diameter. The petals are only just fused at the base, the corolla lobes are narrowly triangular, papilose or covered with single-row trichomes along the edges and the tip. During flowering the corolla lobes are smooth, the depressions between the overgrown parts of the petals are membrane-like.
The stamens (anthers) are orange to deep orange-purple, 3.5 to 6 mm long, 1 to 1.2 mm wide, at the tip an area of 0.5 to 1 mm is somewhat paler and thickened. During the flowering period, they are closely inclined to each other, they open through teardrop-shaped pores at the tips. The free-standing parts of the stamens are 0.5 mm long, the lower parts of the stamens form a tube 0.2 to 0.5 mm long. The ovary is smooth, the stylus is straight and 7 to 9 mm long, the stamp is clavate and finely papillate.
fruit
The fruits are spherical berries 1 to 1.5 cm in diameter that turn yellowish-green when ripe. In the fruits are pale yellowish-brown, flat-kidney-shaped seeds with a size of 3 to 3.5 × 1.5 to 2 mm, the edge of the seeds is thickened, the surface is finely grained.
distribution
This species is widespread in South America to Panama, grows from sea level to altitudes of 1500 m above sea level.
Systematics
External system
Solanum leucocarpon forms the center of a group of species that is placed in the Geminata clade of the genus Solanum .
Internal system
Within the distribution area there are different groups of specimens with different morphological characteristics. Sometimes the plants are confused with species from the former genus Cyphomandra ( Tamarillo ) due to their superficially similar flowers .
The following morphological groups can be distinguished within the species:
- in northern South America and in Guyana the plants have fleshy flowers and are hairy on the underside of the leaves. The trichomes are long and thin, single-row, single or branched, both types appearing on one leaf
- In the Manaus area and the Rio Negro valley , the populations are almost hairless and the flowers are usually slightly smaller. Initially, these plants were described as Solanum coarense , but later assigned to the species.
- In the eastern and southeastern Amazon basins , the plants have smaller flowers and shorter trichomes. The leaves are mostly hairy with small, upright, usually simple, single-row trichomes. Occasionally, some shorter hairs like those in the first group appear along the midrib on the underside of the leaf. These plants have been described as Solanum patellare .
- The mountains of western Guyana have populations with glossy, hairless leaves and relatively small flowers.
- The variant from Panama described as Solanum eshbaughianum is only known from one or two specimens. These are extremely hairy.
- A variant described as Solanum coibae is also only known from a few specimens from Panama. These have almost no hair, the flower stalks become somewhat longer than those of other populations when the fruit is ripe, but they also show the characteristic swelling of other Solanum leucocarpon .
swell
- Solanaceae Source: Species description of Solanum leucocarpon . Natural History Museum , London. On-line.