Lycianthes parasitica Bitter
Creators: name: Knapp, Sandra
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Solanales
Solanaceae
Lycianthes
Lycianthes parasitica

description: 7.Lycianthes parasitica(Blume) Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Vereins Bremen 24 [preprint]: 504. 1919.
Figs 2 D, 3 C, 4 D, 5 D, E, 18
Solanum parasiticum Blume, Cat. Gew. Buitenzorg 55. 1823. Type. Indonesia. [Java]: sin. loc. [Blume (1826) cites “ montis Salak ”], C. L. Blume s. n. (neotype, designated here: L [L 0003603]).
Solanum angatii Elmer, Leaflets Philipp. Bot. 2: 731. 1910, as “ Angatii ”. Type. Philippines. Mindanao [Davao]: Todaya [Mount Apo], district of Davao, May 1909, A. D. E. Elmer 10762 (lectotype, designated here: US [00027451, acc. # 779392]; isolectotypes: BISH [BISH 1005075], BM [BM 001014586], CAL [acc. # 316454], E [E 00273867], F [v 0073457 F, acc. # 290902], G [G 00343323], HBG [HBG- 511360], K [K 000759398], L [L 003583], LAE [acc. # 229575], LE [LE 00016835, LE 00016836], MO [MO- 503797, acc. # 04871604], NY [00172271], W [acc. # 1912-0001593]).
Solanum epiphyticum Merr., Philipp. J. Sc., C 7: 350. 1912. Type. Philippines. Luzon: sin. loc. [“ prov. of Albay ” in protologue], 1841, H. Cuming 837 [as “ 873 ”] (lectotype, designated here: BM [BM 001018999); isolectotypes: G [G 00415763], K [K 000759396, K 000759397], LAE [acc. # 229577, 231304]).
Lycianthes parasitica (Blume) Bitter var. campylorhachis Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 505. 1919. Type. Indonesia. Java: [West Java] Gunung Salak, Tjaepoes. 3 Nov 1912, S. H. Koorders 40378 (lectotype, designated here: BO [acc. # BO- 1414436]; isolectotypes: BO [acc. # 1414437, 1911596]).
Lycianthes parasitica (Blume) Bitter var. epiphytica (Merr.) Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 506. 1919. Type. Based on Solanum epiphyticum Merr.
Lycianthes parasitica (Blume) Bitter var. angatii (Elmer) Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 507. 1919, as “ Angatii ”. Type. Based on Solanum angatii Elmer
Lycianthes parasitica (Blume) Bitter var. praelongipedicellata Bitter, Abh. Naturwiss. Verein Bremen 24 [preprint]: 507. 1919. Type. Indonesia. Sulawesi: [Sulawesi Utara], Tomohon, s. d., P. B. Sarasin & F. K. Sarasin 375 (holotype: B [destroyed]; no duplicates found).
Lycianthes parasitica (Blume) Bitter var. plurifolia Bitter, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 18: 321. 1922. Type. Philippines. Visayas: Eastern Visayas, Leyte Island, 19 Sep 1919, C. A. Wenzel 500 (holotype: G [G 00415812]; isotypes: BM [BM 001018987], F [acc. # 423585], MO [acc. # 80818, 80819]).
Type.
Based on Solanum parasiticum Blume
Description.
Epiphytic shrubs, 1–2 m tall, to 20 m high in trees; stems terete, glabrescent, occasionally (in eastern Sabah, see discussion) sparsely pubescent with weak-walled transparent simple uniseriate 2–10 - celled trichomes when young, often markedly zig-zag; new growth glabrous or occasionally pubescent with transparent, simple uniseriate 8–10 - celled trichomes to 0.2–1 mm long; bark of older stems glabrous or glabrescent, papery-white, markedly exfoliating. Sympodial units difoliate, the leaves geminate, the leaves of a pair differing in size and occasionally in shape, the minor leaves often apparently absent. Leaves simple; blades of major leaves 7–21 cm long, 2–8.4 cm wide, narrowly elliptic to elliptic, widest in the middle, concolorous and shiny, membranous or somewhat fleshy; adaxial surfaces glabrous or occasionally sparsely pubescent with simple uniseriate trichomes like those of the stems, these denser along the veins; abaxial surfaces glabrous to sparsely pubescent with simple uniseriate trichomes like those of the stems, if the lamina glabrous the trichomes confined to the principal veins and midrib; principal veins 5–6 pairs, glabrous or pubescent, the tertiary venation not visible; base acute to attenuate; margins entire; apex acute to acuminate; petiole 0.7–2 cm long, fleshy, glabrous or sparsely pubescent with simple uniseriate trichomes like those of the new growth; blades of minor leaves 1–3 cm long, 1–2.5 cm wide, elliptic to orbicular; surfaces like those of the major leaves, the minor leaves often deciduous; principal veins of minor leaves 3–4 pairs; base acute to rounded-truncate; margins entire; apex obtuse or somewhat rounded; petiole of minor leaves 0.5–0.7 cm long, glabrous or sparsely pubescent. Inflorescences axillary, in fascicles or on a short rhachis to 0.5 cm long, with 3–8 (16) flowers, glabrous; pedicels at anthesis 1–1.5 cm long, ca. 0.5 mm in diameter at the base, ca. 1 mm in diameter at the apex, spreading, glabrous and shiny or occasionally pubescent with simple uniseriate trichomes like those of the stems, articulated at the base; pedicel scars tightly packed and overlapping on the short rhachis, somewhat corky. Buds ellipsoid, the corolla completely included in the calyx tube when young, ca. halfway exserted before anthesis, the calyx appendages only apparent in bud. Flowers 5 - merous, cosexual. Calyx tube 1.5–2.5 mm long, 2.5–3.5 mm wide at the mouth, obconical, glabrous or occasionally pubescent with simple uniseriate trichomes like those of the pedicels, with 5 small appendages arising ca. 0.5 mm below the hyaline rim and only visible in bud, the appendages ca. 0.2 mm long, triangular nubs, usually perpendicular to the calyx tube, glabrous or with a few trichomes. Corolla 0.9–1 cm in diameter, white or pale violet (lilac), stellate, lobed nearly to the base, interpetalar tissue absent but a thin edge of tissue apparent on lobe margins, the lobes 4–4.5 mm long, 1.2–2 mm wide, spreading, glabrous on both surfaces, the tips and margins densely papillate, the tips cucullate. Stamens equal; filament tube minute; free portion of the filaments ca. 1 mm long, glabrous; anthers 2–2.3 mm long, 1–1.5 mm wide, ellipsoid and somewhat tapering, yellow, glabrous, poricidal at the tips, the pores tear-drop shaped and edged with white in dry material, lengthening to slits with age. Ovary conical, glabrous; style 4.5–5 mm long, exserted from the anther cone, glabrous; stigma prominently capitate, the surfaces minutely papillate. Fruit a globose berry, 0.5–0.8 cm in diameter, green when immature, becoming white, then orange or red when mature, the pericarp glabrous, thin, shiny, and transparent; fruiting pedicels 1.5–2.2 cm long, 0.5–1 mm in diameter at the base, ca. 2 mm in diameter at the apex, spreading; fruiting calyx not accrescent or expanding, but remaining a cup beneath the berry, 2–2.5 mm long, 3–4 mm wide at the mouth. Seeds 2 (- 4) per berry, 3.5–6 mm long, ca. 2.5–4.5 mm wide, ovoid-reniform, pale straw-colored, the surfaces deeply pitted, the testal cells sinuate in outline and with prominent “ hairy ” appendages on the thickened lateral walls. Stone cells absent. Chromosome number not known.
Distribution
(Fig. 19). Lycianthes parasitica occurs in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand (a single sterile specimen only, Put Phraisurind 122).
Ecology and habitat.
Lycianthes parasitica grows as an epiphytic shrub in wet forests, usually at low elevations along rivers and streams and in swamp forests, from 100 to 1,000 m elevation.
Common names.
Brunei Darussalam: usak oncom payo (Dusun language, Bernstein 322). Indonesia. Java: terong-an (Blume 1823); Sumatra: sarindon (si Boeea 6246, 9081). Malaysia. Sabah: akar (Bakar 25023), akar tumpeng (Sungei Kinabatangan language, Enggoh 7345). Philippines. Mindanao: lawmoos (Bagóbo language, Elmer 1910), sisumbidan (Manobo language, Elmer 13572).
Preliminary conservation assessment
(IUCN 2020). EOO (26,990,176 km 2 - LC); AOO (1,684 km 2 - VU). Lycianthes parasitica is a species known from more than five localities and is relatively widely distributed in the region, though as an epiphyte is rarely collected. Throughout the range it is known from protected areas (e. g., Mount Kinabalu and the Sepilok Forest Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia; Sohoton National Park on Samar Island in the Philippines). The assessment of Vulnerable (VU) based on AOO is likely due to collecting bias, but also due to the island nature of the distribution. I therefore assign it a preliminary status of Least Concern (LC).
Discussion.
Lycianthes parasitica is distinctive in its epiphytic habit, usually strongly zig-zagging stems with markedly exfoliating white bark and berries with few (usually only two), large seeds (Figs 2 D, 5 E). The epiphytic habit has evolved independently several times in the Solanaceae (Orejuela 2021). The leaves are shiny on the adaxial surfaces and quite fleshy, in dried specimens the lower orders of venation are barely visible. In flower it is possible that L. parasitica could be confused with L. laevis, which similarly has 5 calyx appendages, but that species is a shrub, not an epiphyte, has larger flowers and berries with more than 20 rather than only 2 or 3 seeds. The calyx appendages of L. parasitica are usually not prominent in flower (Figs 3 C, 4 D). The berries of L. parasitica change from green to white, then orange or bright red during maturation (Fig. 5 D), whereas those of L. laevis turn only from green to orange or red (Fig. 2 B).
The minor leaves of the geminate pair are often deciduous in older stems of L. parasitica; this was the principal feature used by Merrill (1912) in distinguishing his new species S. epiphyticum.
In the Sandakan area of Sabah (Malaysian Borneo) several collections of L. parasitica (e. g., Evangelista 883, Pereira & Postar SAN- 151226 and Sinclair 9347) are distinctive in being densely pubescent with simple uniseriate trichomes on all parts. These collections correspond to the glabrous individuals of L. parasitica in flower and leaf size and in numbers of seeds in berries, so I have retained them here, recognising that pubescence in Lycianthes in Asia is extremely variable. Further investigation of these populations would be of interest.
Solanum parasiticum was described in a footnote to a species list of plants found near the botanic gardens in Bogor (Blume 1823) without citation of specimens, nor were specimens cited in his later treatment (Blume 1826). No specimens collected by Blume are extant in the Bogor herbarium (A. Kartonegoro, pers. comm.). When he left Indonesia for the Netherlands Blume took with him several cases of specimens he and others had collected (van Steenis 1989). I have selected a neotype from among the specimens at Leiden (Blume s. n., L 0003603) corresponding to the description in the protologue.
Like other species described by Elmer (1910), no herbarium was cited in the protologue of S. angatii. I have selected the best preserved of the duplicates of the single collection cited (Elmer 10762) as the lectotype. This species was named in honour of Elmer’s Bagóbo guide Angat from the village of Todaya, for whom he had great praise (Elmer 1910).
Merrill (1912) described S. epiphyticum from several collections, citing one of them (“ Cuming 873 ”) as “ type ”, but with no herbarium mentioned. There are no collections of Cuming 873 that are Solanaceae, but Cuming 837 is from the type locality, and I am considering Merrill’s (1912) citation of “ Cuming 837 ” as an error to be corrected. Since the herbarium in Manila was burnt during the Second World War and all specimens held there were destroyed (see discussion under L. banahaensis), I have selected the sheet at BM (BM 001018999) as the lectotype; it has well-preserved material with both flowers and fruits.
Bitter (1919) synonymised S. angatii and S. epiphyticum under his concept of L. parastica, and described two additional infraspecific taxa, vars. campylorhachis and praelongipedicellata. He cited a single specimen from Bogor (“ Koorders 40378 β! (hb. Bogor) ”) for var. campylorhachis; I have selected the best preserved and most complete of the three duplicates of this collection (BO acc. # BO- 1414436) as the lectotype. A collection made by the cousins Karl F. and Paul B. Sarasin (“ it. celeb. Sarasinorum n. 375! ”) from Berlin was cited by Bitter (1919) for var. praelongipedicellatum; Berlin specimens were destroyed and most of this material is lost (van Steenis Kruseman 1985). I have seen no duplicates of any Sarasin collections. A neotype should be sought from the area where the type was gathered (https://openlibrary.org/books/OL16289390M/Reisen_in_ Celebes #overview), I have seen no specimens of L. parasitica from Sulawesi.
Bitter (1922) later described L. parasitica var. plurifolia, citing a single specimen in “ herb. Delessert ”, held in G; in the absence of any evidence that he could have seen others of this collection (Wenzel 500), I suggest the specimen at G (G 00415812) is the holotype.
description: Published as part of Knapp, Sandra, 2024, A revision of Lycianthes (Solanaceae) in tropical Asia, pp. 1-106 in PhytoKeys 245 on pages 1-106, DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.245.121988