Lycianthes jalicensis (Solanaceae), a New Species from Jalisco, Mexico

Abstract

A new species of Lycianthes from Jalisco, Mexico, is described and illustrated as L. jalicensis E. Dean. Comprising 150-200 species (D'Arcy, 1997), Lycianthes (Solanaceae) has both Old World and New World representatives; however, its center of distribution, and the majority of its taxa, are found in the New World (from Mexico to Argentina). The genus is generally thought to be a close relative of Capsicum (Olmstead & Palmer, 1992; Bitter, 1919) but differs from that genus in having poricidally dehiscent anthers. While in Mexico in 1991, I collected specimens of a new species of Lycianthes in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. After examining other specimens of the species from several different herbaria, I am able to describe it here. The terminology used to describe the branching pattern of the species follows that of Child and Lester (1991). The erect portions of the plants of this species arise from a horizontal rhizome. The erect plant body has a basal segment with spirally arranged leaves, which is considered the first sympodial unit of the plant; that segment terminates in a bud or a flower. Thereafter, all branches are short sympodial units consisting of two leaves and a flower. The upper branching can be dichasial or monochasial; if it is unichasial, the leaf arrangement is geminate. As described for other Lycianthes spp. (Dean, 1994), the flowers of L. jalicensis, which are usually angled upward from the stem, open and close each morning for several days in a row (usually 3 days). The corolla is sympetalous, with the limb divided into five lobes, which are connected by membranous tissue. The shape of the corolla can be described as campanulate, but the pressure of opening can tear the corolla membrane by the last day of anthesis, allowing the corolla to open more fully. The five stamens of the androecium are unequal, with the lowest stamen longest, and of about the same length as the style, while the other four stamens are substantially shorter. The uppermost two anthers, or both the uppermost and lateral anthers, usually dehisce on the first day of anthesis, with the lowermost anther dehiscing on the third day the flower opens. Bees that visit the flowers of Lycianthesjalicensis buzz the anthers to extract the pollen, as has been described for various Solanum species (Buchmann et al., 1977). The population that I visited near El Tuito, Jalisco, had open flowers during our first visit, which was from 7:00 AM (sunrise) to 8:16 AM, and bees were already buzzing the flower anthers. When the same population was visited at 11:00 AM, the flowers were closed. The insects that we observed and collected belonged to the genus Ptiloglossa (Colletidae). Lycianthes jalicensis E. Dean, sp. nov. TYPE: Mexico. Jalisco: S of Puerto Vallarta and N of El Tuito, along hwy. 200, 20.3 road km S of Playa Mismaloya, W side of the road, along footpath that follows small drainage, 500 m, 13 Aug. 1991, E. Dean & T Starbuck 248 (holotype, DAV; isotypes, MEXU, UC, XAL). Figure 1. Frutices e rhizomatibus orientes. Trichomata simplicia. Inflorescentiae flores 1-7. Corolla alba, campanulata; filamentis staminum inaequalibus, 4 brevibus, 1 longiore. Fructus ruber, rotundus. Clonal shrubs from horizontal rhizomes, to 2 m tall. Indument of white, simple, acute, severalcelled trichomes. Aboveground stems green to purple with vertical purple striations, the nodes often a darker purple; first (vertical) stem segment often elongate, comprising up to ? of total plant height, but sometimes short and branched from near ground-level; sympodial growth extensive, the oldest segments 4.5-8.5 cm long, 1-3 mm wide. Stem pubescence often sparse, antrorse to spreading, 0.25-1 mm long, the stem usually glabrate with age. Sympodial leaves membranaceous with arcuate venation, the sympodial units difoliate, usually geminate, sometimes appearing unifoliate if subtending dichasial forks, the total leaf length 5-17 cm long, 1.5-7.5 cm wide, the length of the larger leaf of a geminate pair 2-4 times longer than that NovoN 8: 133-136. 1998. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.55 on Sun, 12 Jun 2016 05:01:59 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms