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(Last Modified On 5/16/2013)
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(Last Modified On 5/16/2013)
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Species
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Solanum quitoense Lam.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Illustr. 2: 16, no. 2326. 1793 [1794].
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Note
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TYPE: Herb. Lamarck s.n. (P).
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Description
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Large herb or small shrub to 3 m tall; twigs stout, tomentose with long-armed, multangulate hairs on long, multiseriate stalks and armed with short or long, stout, flattened, yellowish spines. Leaves large, often exceeding 30 cm long, broadly ovate, shallowly sinuate-lobed, the lobes acuminate, the tips often glabrous above and mucronate, above with a mixture of sessile, porrect, pauci- radiate hairs with long midpoints and long, multiseriate, stalked, multangulate hairs, these latter often deciduous, beneath more densely clothed with mostly stalked stellae and suffused with purple, at least when young, armed or not on the major veins; petioles to 15 cm long, stout, tomentose and often armed. Inflorescence a congested fascicle or sub-umbellate raceme on a short, stout peduncle; pedicels to 10 mm long, the tomentum in part infused with purple. Calyx 10 cm long, lobed 1/2 the way down, the lobes deltoid, densely purplish tomentose outside and, except for the villous tips, glabrous within; corolla white, unequally lobed almost to the base, 5 cm across, densely tomentose outside, glabrous within; anthers subsessile, very stout at the base and narrowly abruptly in the upper 1/3, the slender tips bent outwards to allow the terminal pores to dehisce extrorsely; ovary densely tomentose, style glabrous. Fruits large, to 6 cm across, a yellow-orange, juicy berry, glabrescent but scabridulous until maturity, the pericarp thin, 5-10 mm thick, enclosing large, many-seeded locules; seeds lenticular-discoid, scrobiculate, with narrow but distinct wings, 3-4 mm across overall.
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Habit
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herb or small shrub
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Note
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Solanum quitoeYnse may be identified in the field by its large, felty, corrugated leaves and the suffusion of purple over parts where the otherwise white tomentum is most dense. The purple color is within the hairs and not the tissues of the leaf, stem, calyx, etc. On the herbarium sheet, it is distinguished from several closely related species of South America only by close attention to details of the androecium and pubescence. All Panamanian collections are quite homogeneous as to morphology except Duke & Nickerson 14904, which has larger leaves and looser, shaggier pubescence than the other collections. To ascertain floral details would result in mutilation of the specimen. The typical form of this species is unarmed, and collections of such plants are indicated below by an asterisk. Plants with spines may be referred to as fo. septentrionale (R. E. Schultes & Cuatrec.) D'Arcy. This species is cultivated in crop fashion in the Chiriqui mountains for the juice of its fruits, but at the present time (1972) it must be ranked as a minor or experimental crop. Most Panamanian collections are presumed to be escapes from cultivation.
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Distribution
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It may be persistent in areas of frequent disturbance. Solanum quitoense is presumed to be a native of Peru, Ecuador, or Colombia and is introduced to Panama.
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Specimen
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CHiRIQUI: Finca Collins, near Boquete, Blum & Dwyer 2569* (MO). Los Naranjos, roadside in partial shade, D'Arcy 4274* (MO). South side of Cerro Pando, 6,000 ft, planta- tion crop on steep hillside, D'Arcy 5411 (MO). Boquete, 3,800 ft, Davidson 817 (F, GH, MO, US). Collin's Finca, 6,000 ft, cultivated in a field, Kirkbride 111* (MO). COCLE: Cerro Pilon, hill below summit above El Valle de Anton, 200-2,700 ft, rain forest, Dwyer et al. 4569 (MO). DARIEN: Rio Areti, Duke & Nickerson 14904 (MO). PANAMA: Cerro Jefe, one plant, weed in catefal, D'Arcy et al. 3952* (MO). Cerro Campana, cloud forest, 2,600- 2,800 ft, Lewis et al. 1936* (GH, MO, US).
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