Literature Cited
The information on this page may be cited as a communication with professor
Thomas Mione, Central Connecticut State University,
Biology Department, Copernicus Hall, 1615 Stanley Street, New Britain, CT 06050-4010
This page updated March 2008.
Link to Jaltomata home page

Jaltomata aspera (R. & P.) Mione

This photo was generously provided by Dr. Graciela Vilcapoma S. and Arturo Granda P. (collection 4326).

 

Herbaceous to suffrutescent. Hairs of leaves not gland-tipped. Pedicels articulated (one can see both a pedicel and a peduncle). Flowers almost always solitary. Corolla rotate-campanulate, 5-lobed, greenish-yellow or yellow-green, lacking 5 pairs of maculae, 42 mm across. Anther Length: 3.5 - 4.5 mm, stamen Length: 12-14 mm. Tough, bowl-shaped layer of tissue (see below) apparently formed by the bases of the stamens. Filaments glabrous. Style widest at base and gradually narrowing toward apex. Stigma no wider than top of style. Nectar red. Fruit Color: orange (Granda 926); white (Macbride 1962)

Left: Note how style is widest at base and gradually narrows toward stigma, and how stigma is no wider than the top of the style. Anthers undehisced. Evident in this photo is the bowl of tissue either formed by bases of stamens or adnate to bases of stamens.

 

 

Lower Left: Anthers. Ventral view on left; dorsal view on right. Units vertically along right are mm.

 

 

Lower Right: two anthers were removed to show the bowl of tissue apparently formed by bases of stamens. At the center of the photo is the ovary of the flower, with the style attached at its top middle.

 

All three of these photos are of collection Mione, Leiva & Yacher 615 after flowers were stored in 70% ethanol for a few years. Photos by Mione.

Geographic Distribution: Peru, Department Lima
In the loma-formation: Elevation 152 to 500 m, flowering Sep, Oct & Nov.
In the Andes: Elevation 1600 - 2290 m, flowering Mar & Apr (and one specimen was flowering in Jan during an El Niño event).

Department Province Locality elevation in m habitat date collector Data Entry
Lima Lima TYPE: Hills of Lima named Amancaes not mentioned in protologue, but we know these hills to be under 500 m from labels of conspecific collections in these hills not mentioned in protologue, but we know that Amancaes is loma-formation "flowering in Oct and Nov" is stated in protologue, so collections were very likely made during these months Ruíz López & Pavón s.n. (not seen, Mione corresponded with MA in 1998 and they replied "not found in our collections") Feb 2007
Lima Lima type of Saracha lacrima-virginis, Amancaes 200-400 loma-formation, rocky area 19 Oct 1902 Weberbauer 1587 Feb 2007
Lima Lima Amancaes 200-300 loma-formation Sep 1909 Weberbauer 5246a (F, US) Feb 2007
Lima Lima near Lima no data presumably Lomas 1862 W. Nation s. n. (K) Feb 2007
Lima Lima Hills of Mongomarca 500 Loma-Formation Sep 1909 Weberbauer 5235 (US) Feb 2007
Lima Lima type of Saracha ciliata Miers, valley of Lima no data presumably lomas looks like "July & Aug" on type specimen label Mathews 834 (K) Feb 2007
Lima Lima San Geronimo 152 rocky hillside 19 Sept 1923 J. F. Macbride 5912 (F) Feb 2007
Lima Lima Lima no data no data Sep 1932 D. Stafford K.35 (K) Feb 2007
Lima Cañete Lomas de Asia no data no data 14 October 1995 G. Vilcapoma S. and A. Granda P. 4326 (Mione has seen photo but not herbarium specimen) Feb 2007
               
Lima Canta Arriba de Apán, camino a Puruchuco 1700 monte caducifolio con veg. herbácea 21 Mar 1994 G. Vilcapoma S. 2950 (MOL) Feb 2007
Lima Canta Apán, camino a Puruchuco 1600 ladera pedregosa con monte caducifolio 26 Mar 1993 Granda 926 Feb 2007
Lima Canta Apán, camino a Puruchuco 2550 ladera pedregosa con monte caducifolio 2 Apr 1994 A. Granda & J. Alegría 1254 Feb 2007
Lima Huarochirí km 73 of highway from Lima to La Oroya 2290 open sun, slope, with Carica candicans, Lycianthes sp., and Schinus molle; terreno xerofitico, arenos 17 Jan 1998 T. Mione, S. Leiva G. & L. Yacher 615; S. Leiva G., T. Mione, & L. Yacher 2130 Feb 2007
Lima Huarochirí valley of Rio Rimac, near Lima-Oroya, highway at km 70 east of Lima 1800 dry open hillside, granite soil, with cacti 15-22 Mar 1942 Goodspeed & Metcalf 30248 (MO, US) Feb 2007
Lima Huarochirí type of Saracha urbaniana, above San Bartolomé (Lima to Oroya R. R.) 1600-1700 rocky slopes with not very dense xerophytic vegetation mainly cacti and shrubs that are green when it rains 27 Mar 1910 A. Weberbauer 5262 (US)(photo NY) Feb 2007

Two Jaltomata species are similar, sharing with J. aspera copious colored nectar and a bowl-shaped structure formed by the bases of the stamens.
One grows in La Libertad and its working name is GreenFruit&OrangeNectar. The other species grows in Arequipa and its working name is ArequipaPurple.

In the book "Travels of Ruiz, Pavón and Dombey in Peru and Chile" Jaltomata aspera is mentioned as collected between Huaura and Sayan and Torreblanca or between Torreblanca and Lima (page 107). As best as I can determine, these location are along the coast in the department of Lima.

 Local Names

Synonymy:
Jaltomata aspera (Ruiz & Pavón) Mione. Basionym: Atropa aspera Ruiz and Pavón, Flora Peruviana, et chilensis 2: 45. 1799. Ulticona aspera (Ruiz & Pavón) Raf., Sylva Telluriana 55. 1838. Hebecladus asperus (Ruiz & Pavón) Miers, London J. Bot. 4: 322. 1845.

Saracha ciliata Miers, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 2, 3: 446. 1849.

Saracha lacrima-virginis Bitter, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 17: 341. 1921.

Saracha urbaniana Bitter & Dammer, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 17: 342. 1921. Weberbauer 5262 =5305 according to label on photospecimen at WIS.

Saracha urbaniana could someday be transferred to Jaltomata as J. urbaniana (Bitter & Dammer). The higher elevation specimens would then all go by this name, and the low elevation (lomas) specimens would continue to be known as J. aspera. The low elevation and the high elevation populations flower at different times of the year, and so are reproductively isolated.