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Issue: Vol. 425 No. 3: 5 December 2019
Type: Article
Published: 2019-12-05
DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.425.3.6
Page range: 163–189
Abstract views: 29
PDF downloaded: 57

Identification of the Mexican species of Lycianthes series Piliferae (Capsiceae, Solanaceae) and the rediscovery of Lycianthes caeciliae

Center for Plant Diversity, Department of Plant Sciences Mail Stop 7, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616, U. S. A.
Center for Plant Diversity, Department of Plant Sciences Mail Stop 7, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616, U. S. A.
Instituto de Ecología, A.C., Red de Biodiversidad y Sistemática, Carretera Antigua a Coatepec 351, El Haya, 91070, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
Center for Plant Diversity, Department of Plant Sciences Mail Stop 7, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616, U. S. A.
Maestría en Ciencias en Biosistemática y Manejo de Recursos Naturales y Agrícolas (BIMARENA), Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad de Guadalajara, Camino Ing. Ramón Padilla Sánchez 2100, 45200 Nextipac, Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico.
Center for Plant Diversity, Department of Plant Sciences Mail Stop 7, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616, U. S. A.
Herbarium BIGU, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Guatemala.
Herbarium BIGU, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Guatemala.
Central America Lycianthes Mexico taxonomy Eudicots

Abstract

Solanum piliferum was first described by Bentham in 1840, based on material collected in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. In 1919, the species was transferred to the genus Lycianthes by Friedrich August Georg Bitter and became the type species of his series Piliferae. This article provides a key to separate the Mexican species included by Bitter in series Piliferae, with updated species descriptions, synonymy, typification, distribution, and images of characteristics (trichomes, flowers, fruits, seeds). We address the misplacement of L. stephanocalyx and L. coffeifolia in this series and suggest limiting the series to just the species L. caeciliae, L. pilifera and L. quichensis based on habitat preferences, floral morphology, and seed characters. However, the series is not recircumscribed at this time.