Solanum riojense Bitter, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 11: 481. 1913.
Creators: name: Knapp, Sandra
name: Saerkinen, Tiina
name: Barboza, Gloria E.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Solanales
Solanaceae
Solanum
Solanum riojense

description: 48. Solanum riojense Bitter, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 11: 481. 1913. Figs 146, 147 Solanum andicola C.V.Morton, Revis. Argentine Sp. Solanum 75. 1976. Type. Argentina. Tucumán: Dpto Tafí del Valle, Paso del Infiernillo, 3,000 m, 18 Feb 1924, <i>S. Venturi 7776</i> (holotype: US [00027450, acc. # 1549026]). Type. Argentina. La Rioja: [Dpto. Vinchina], al pie del Peñón, Cordillera de la Rioja, <i>G. Hieronymus &amp; G. Niederlein 233</i> (lectotype, designated by Morton 1976, pg. 79: CORD [CORD00004290]). Description. Small herbs from a woody rhizomatous base, 0.1-0.2 m high, the branches usually spreading. Stems terete, moderately pubescent with white eglandular 2-6-celled simple uniseriate trichomes to 0.5 mm long, these usually curled and somewhat tangled; new growth moderately to densely pubescent with tangled white eglandular simple uniseriate trichomes like those of the stems, these denser along the veins; bark of older stems glabrescent, pale greenish brown. Sympodial units plurifoliate, the leaves not geminate. Leaves simple and shallowly toothed, the blades 1.8-4.5 cm long, 0.8-2.4 cm wide, elliptic, widest at the middle, somewhat thick and coriaceous or fleshy, concolorous, very variable in size on individual plants; adaxial and abaxial surfaces sparsely and evenly pubescent with curled white eglandular simple uniseriate trichomes like the stems to 0.5 mm long or glabrous with only a few trichomes along the veins; principal veins 3-4(6) pairs, sparsely pubescent on both surfaces; base attenuate; margins shallowly toothed along entire length or less teeth only present near the base, the teeth 3-5 mm long, 4-6 mm wide, with rounded or pointed tips; apex acute or occasionally bluntly rounded; petiole absent to minute (ca. 0.1 mm), sparsely pubescent with curled white eglandular simple uniseriate trichomes ca. 0.5 mm long like those of the stems. Inflorescences terminal, unbranched, 1-2.5(3) cm long, with 5-7 flowers clustered at the tips, sparsely tangled white-pubescent like the stems and leaves; peduncle 0.8-2.3 cm long; pedicels 0.8-1.1 cm long, ca. 0.5 mm in diameter at the base, 2-2.5 mm in diameter at the base, strongly tapering, spreading at anthesis, sparsely pubescent with tangled white eglandular trichomes like those of the stems and rest of the inflorescence, articulated at the base; pedicel scars evenly spaced 1-3 mm apart. Buds broadly ellipsoid, the corolla ca. halfway exserted from the calyx tube before anthesis, the style often emerging from the unopened flowers in bud. Flowers 5-merous, cosexual (hermaphroditic). Calyx tube 1.5-2.5 mm long, conical, the lobes 2.5-3 mm long, broadly deltate with rounded tips, sparsely pubescent with tangled white eglandular trichomes to 0.5 mm long. Corolla 1.8-2 cm in diameter, white or pale lavender adaxially, purple abaxially, with a greenish yellow central star or eye, stellate, lobed halfway to 2/3 of the way to the base, the lobes 5-6 mm long, 3.5-5 mm wide, spreading at anthesis, adaxially glabrous, abaxially pubescent where exposed in bud with curled and tangled white eglandular simple uniseriate trichomes 0.5-0.75 mm long, these denser at tips and margins. Stamens equal; filament tube minute; free portion of the filaments ca. 0.5 mm long, sparsely pubescent with tangled weak simple uniseriate trichomes adaxially; anthers 3.5-4.5 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, ellipsoid, yellow, poricidal at the tips, the pores lengthening to slits with age. Ovary conical, glabrous; style 10-11 mm long, straight, exserted beyond the anther cone, moderately pubescent with transparent uniseriate papillae and trichomes in the lower half within the anther tube; stigma capitate and usually somewhat bilobed, the surface minutely papillate. Fruit a globose berry, 0.8-1.1 cm in diameter, mature colour not known, the pericarp thin, matte, opaque, glabrous; fruiting pedicels 1.3-1.5 cm long, ca. 0.5 mm in diameter at the base, ca. 2.5 mm in diameter at the apex, deflexed, somewhat woody, not persistent; fruiting calyx not accrescent, appressed to the berry surface or slightly reflexed, not enlarging from size in flower. Seeds ca. 20 per berry, 2.5-3 mm long, ca. 2.5 mm wide, flattened and teardrop shaped, reddish brown, the surfaces minutely pitted, the testal cells deeply sinuate in outline. Stone cells absent (<i>Barboza 3253</i>) or 4-10 per berry, 2-2.5 mm in diameter, pale cream. Chromosome number: n = 12 (Moyetta et al. 2013, voucher <i>Barboza et al. 3253</i>, as <i>S. echegarayi</i>). Distribution <b>(Fig. 148).</b> <i>Solanum riojense</i> is endemic to the Andes of northern Argentina (Provs. Jujuy, La Rioja, Salta, Tucumán). Ecology and habitat. <i>Solanum riojense</i> grows in prepuna and puna vegetation, usually in open rocky areas, often at the edges of fields or in other disturbed areas, from 2,000 to 3,800 m elevation. Common names and uses. None recorded. Preliminary conservation status <b>(IUCN 2022).</b> Least Concern [LC]. EOO = 128,085 km2 [LC]; AOO = 88 km2 [EN]. <i>Solanum riojense</i> occurs in approximately eight locations along the eastern Andean slope and has a relatively wide distribution. It has been collected in the higher elevations of the Yungas Biosphere Reserve, but most collections are outside of protected areas. Discussion. <i>Solanum riojense</i> is a member of the <i>Episarcophyllum</i> clade (Särkinen et al. 2015b), together with <i>S. echegarayi</i> and <i>S. sinuatirecurvum</i>. The identity of this species has been somewhat obscured by issues over the type specimen (see below), Barboza et al. (2013) placed it in synonymy <i>with S. echegarayi</i>, but Cabrera (1983) correctly identified it as distinct. It differs from <i>S. echegarayi</i> in the tangled, floccose pubescence of new growth (versus uniform, short erect, trichomes or absence of pubescence in <i>S. echegarayi</i>) and the calyx lobes with rounded rather than sharply acute tips. <i>Solanum riojense</i> is similar to <i>S. sinuatirecurvum</i> in the floccose pubescence of new growth, but differs in having smaller flowers (1.8-2 cm in diameter versus 2-2.6 cm in diameter in <i>S. sinuatirecurvum</i>) and berries (0.8-1.1 cm in diameter versus 1-1.3 cm in diameter in <i>S. sinuatirecurvum</i>). The rounded calyx lobe apices of <i>S. riojense</i> in both flower and fruit differentiate it from <i>S. sinuatirecurvum</i> (with sharply pointed calyx lobe tips). Mature fruit colour of <i>S. riojense</i> is not known. A specimen in CORD (CORD00012856) labelled "Echegaray 472", came to CORD from SI and undoubtably represents a mix-up of labels. The name <i>Solanum echegarayi</i> Hieron. was based on an un-numbered collection of Saale Echegaray from Leoncito (San Juan) that lacked pubescence (as noted by A.T. Hunziker on CORD00012858 in pencil); the protologue notes that the plant is completely glabrous and the lectotype of <i>S. echegarayi</i> (CORD00004197) matches the protologue. CORD00012856 has tangled white uniseriate trichomes and is therefore in conflict with the protologue. The specimen CORD00012856 matches perfectly one of the syntypes of <i>Solanum riojense</i> Bitter, <i>Hieronymus &amp; Neiderlein 472</i> (CORD00004291) a similar small, high elevation species that has tangled white trichomes on all new growth and inflorescences. What appears to have happened is a complex exchange of specimens from CORD to SI, then back to CORD, with the collector and locality being copied in error to this duplicate (and that at SI) of <i>Hieronymus &amp; Niederlein 472</i>. Therefore, this sheet (CORD00012856) and the corresponding sheet in SI (003309) should be considered duplicates of <i>Hieronymus &amp; Niederlein 472</i>, thus isosyntypes of <i>Solanum riojense</i>, not type material of <i>Solanum echegarayi</i>.
description: Published as part of <i>Knapp, Sandra, Saerkinen, Tiina &amp; Barboza, Gloria E., 2023, A revision of the South American species of the Morelloid clade (Solanum L., Solanaceae), pp. 1-342 in PhytoKeys 231</i> on page 1, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.231.100894
description: {"references": ["Morton, CV, 1976. A revision of the Argentine species of Solanum. Academia Nacional de Ciencias, Cordoba.", "Cabrera, A, 1983. Solanaceae. In: Cabrera A (Ed.) Flora de la Provincia de Jujuy 13 (8): 292 - 493", "Barboza, GE, Knapp, S, Saerkinen, T, 2013. Grupo VII. Moreloide. In: Anton, AM, Zuloaga, FO, Eds., Barboza GE (Coord.) Flora Argentina (Vol. 13), Solanaceae. IOBDA- IMBIV, CONICET: Buenos Aires &amp; Cordoba, Argentina: 231 - 264", "Moyetta, NR, Stiefkensa, LB, Bernardello, G, 2013. Karyotypes of South American species of the Morelloid and Dulcamaroid clades (Solanum, Solanaceae). Caryologia 66 (4): 333 - 345, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00087114.2013.855389", "2022. . https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/redlistguidelines", "Saerkinen, T, Barboza, GE, Knapp, S, 2015b. True Black nightshades: Phylogeny and delimitation of the Morelloid clade of Solanum. Taxon 64 (5): 945 - 958, DOI: https://doi.org/10.12705/645.5"]}