Abstract
Three new Brazilian species of the Brevantherum clade of Solanum (Solanaceae) are described, all closely related to the poorly known Solanum inornatum Witasek. Solanum bradei Giacomin & Stehmann, sp. nov., and Solanum kriegeri Giacomin & Stehmann, sp. nov., differ from S. inornatum in having very small deltate calyx lobes that are not accrescent in fruit. Solanum bradei is a shrub up to 1.8 m with generally pedunculate inflorescences and tiny translucent fruits, whereas Solanum kriegeri is a dwarf glabrescent plant growing on sandy soils in cloud forests, with larger fruits and sessile to subsessile inflorescence. Solanum friburgense Giacomin & Stehmann, sp. nov., has linear calyx lobes like S. inornatum, and is characterized by its 2-foliate sympodia and leaf pubescence, with trichomes concentrated on leaf veins. The species here described and illustrated are restricted to the mountain ranges of Mantiqueira and Serra do Mar in the Atlantic forests of southeastern Brazil and are all of considerable conservation concern.
Highlights
The phytogeographic domain of the Atlantic Forest in South America is a complex of ecosystems and is recognized as one of the most biodiverse regions on earth (Mittermeier et al 2004)
Solanum friburgense is the only species of the S. inornatum group that has 2-foliate non-geminate sympodial units
It shares the linear-lanceolate calyx lobes with S. inornatum but can be distinguished from it by having the calyx lobes strongly recurved at anthesis, and the leaf pubescence concentrated along the veins and only sparsely present on the mesophyll of the leaf lamina, while S. inornatum has straight to slightly curved calyx lobes and trichomes evenly distributed on veins and mesophyll
Summary
The phytogeographic domain of the Atlantic Forest in South America is a complex of ecosystems and is recognized as one of the most biodiverse regions on earth (Mittermeier et al 2004). Species of the Brevantherum Clade are native to the New World, occurring from southern United States through Argentina, with a center of diversity in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Members of the Brevantherum Clade are unarmed herbs to shrubs or small trees with unbranched (section Gonatotrichum and members of S. inornatum species group) to variously branched or stellate trichomes (all other species), and small oblong-ellipsoid poricidal anthers with introrsely opening pores. The species of the S. inornatum group are herbs to small shrubs with exclusively unbranched trichomes and are all restricted to southeastern Brazil They share unbranched (and rarely geniculate; see Giacomin 2010, Stern et al 2013) trichomes with section Gonatotrichum, members of S. inornatum group are morphologically and phylogenetically distinct from those species.
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