Solanum jobsonii, a novel andromonoecious bush tomato species from a new Australian national park.

L Mae Lacey,Jason T Cantley,Christopher T Martine

doi:10.3897/phytokeys.82.12106

Abstract

A new species of Solanum from the Australian “andromonoecious bush tomato clade” of Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum is described. Solanum jobsonii Martine, J.Cantley, & L.M.Lacey, sp. nov. is part of the S. eburneum Symon species group. It most closely resembles S. eburneum and S. watneyi Martine & Frawley of the northwestern part of the Northern Territory, but is separated geographically from them by the Sturt Plateau. Morphometric analyses show that S. jobsonii differs statistically from S. eburneum, S. watneyi, and S. diversiflorum F.Muell. – a similar species in habit and leaf characters – in several key reproductive and vegetative characters. We provide morphometric evidence for the recognition of S. jobsonii, a complete description, a table of comparisons within its species group, and a map showing species group distributions. One of the first new species to be described from Limmen National Park (established 2012), S. jobsonii is a testament to the value of designating and protecting public lands, as well as supporting science relating to them.

Highlights

Solanum L. is one of the more species-rich Angiosperm genera, with representation on all continents save for Antarctica
The loading plot depicts which characters had the greatest weight in pulling out the points within the score plot to each of their respective quadrants, determining which characters had the greatest influence in delimiting the species
The Principal component analysis (PCA) score plot based on all measured characters for S. watneyi, S. eburneum, S. diversiflorum, and S. jobsonii supports the relative distinctiveness of Solanum jobsonii based on character grouping when compared to the other three closely related taxa, some overlapping with S. diversiflorum and S. eburneum variants is observed (Figure 1a)

Summary

Introduction

Solanum L. is one of the more species-rich Angiosperm genera, with representation on all continents save for Antarctica. In Australia, where upwards of 120 Solanum species are known (Symon 1981), members of the group are especially abundant components of disturbance-adapted and fire-tolerant outback plant communities; and a handful of Copyright L. L. Mae Lacey et al / PhytoKeys 82: 1–13 (2017). Despite the conspicuous nature of the genus in parts of Australia, new species of Solanum have continued to be discovered in recent years – especially members of the “spiny solanum” group (Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum Bitter) in the northern Australian Monsoon Tropics (Brennan et al 2006, Bean and Albrecht 2008, Barrett 2013, Martine et al 2013, Bean 2016, Martine et al 2016a, Martine et al 2016b)

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Conclusion