Jaltomata auriculata (Miers) Mione
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. Link to Jaltomata home page

Upper Left (Fig. 1): Two open flowers, anthers dehisced Lower Left (Fig. 3): Ripe fruits are red. Photos by Thomas Mione; Plowman & Davis 4449 grown as Mione 450. Seeds were germinated at Central Connecticut State University and plants were grown outdoors in Burlington, CT, during the summer of 2003.	Upper Right (Fig. 2): Back of flower. Lower Right (Fig. 4): The ruler (resting on the pot) is one foot long. Note the ripe fruit (red) towards the base of the plant.

transfer to the genus Jaltomata: Brittonia 51(1) 1999, pages 31-32.
Saracha auriculata Miers, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 2, 3: 448. 1849. Miers, Illustr. S. Amer. Pl. 2: 18, t. 38A. 1857.  
Witheringia auriculata (Miers) Miers, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 2, 11: 92. 1853.  
TYPE: COLOMBIA. Dept. Tolima, Playas del Combeima, 4 o 19' N, 75 o 09' W, J. Goudot s.n . (HOLOTYPE: K; ISOTYPE: P, photo of P specimen, F neg. 39249).   The taxonomic transfer of this species from Saracha to Jaltomata was proposed by Castillo (unpublished, 1974, page 115).

Description: Glabrate, erect, herb/suffrutescent to 1 m tall. Leaves ovate; to 20 cm long (including petiole); strongly toothed to sinuate on the same plant, to subentire; terminally acuminate to obtuse. Inflorescence 4 - 6 flowered. Peduncle to 2.9 cm long; green; glabrous. Pedicel to 2 cm long; green; glabrous; bract to 9 mm long sometimes arising from base. Flowering calyx 6 - 8 mm in diameter; lobe radius 2.5 - 3 mm; sinus radius 1.5 - 1.6 mm; glabrous. Corolla rotate; white to yellowish (always white on plants of Plowman & Davis 4449 I cultivated, shown in these photos); "white with a ring of 10 light green marks at base" (Asplund 19223); 5-lobed or 10-lobed with the lobules inconspicuous; 17 - 19 mm in diameter; lobe radius 7 mm; sinus radius 4.5 mm; closing at night.   Stamens 3.2 - 3.6 mm long. Filaments, the slender part pubescent on basal 1/2 - 2/3 rds of the length with unpigmented finger trichomes to 1 mm long. Anthers, undehisced 1.1 - 1.3 mm long by 1.2 - 1.4 mm wide; dull white. Pollen grains 20,000 - 36,000 per androecium, 30 - 37.5 µm. Style 1.9 - 2.5 mm long including stigma. Stigma at same height as dehisced anthers; overhead dimensions 0.5 - 0.6 mm by 0.6 - 0.8 mm. Ovules 176 - 212 per ovary. Fruits (mature, fresh) bright red (Fig. 3). Seeds 1.0 mm long. Description unless otherwise noted based on plants grown from seeds of Plowman & Davis 4449.  

     Diagnostic Features: glabrate, small white flowers, pubescent/villous filaments, bright red fruits.  

    Distribution and Ecology: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and one specimen from Bolivia; usually collected between 1400 m and 2100 m (see elevation column in table below), usually in disturbed habitats including roadsides.   Flowering and fruiting Jan, Feb, Mar, Jul, Aug, Nov, Dec.   Jaltomata auriculata is autogamous and self-compatible; fruits were abundantly self-set in a pollinator-free greenhouse.   Fruits are bright red, 5 - 11 mm across, and remain attached to the parent plant after ripening, suggesting bird dispersal. When ripe fruits are manually removed or fall the calyx and pedicel usually remain attached to plant.  

     Jaltomata auriculata resembles J. nitida (Bitter) Mione. Both possess glabrate leaves, white flowers and red fruits. They are easily distinguished, however, as J. auriculata has 5-6 flowers per inflorescence, the filaments are villous along the lower half, and the calyx diameter (at fruit maturity) is less than 16 mm, whereas J. nitida has 3 - 4 flowers per inflorescence, glabrous filaments, and the calyx diameter (at fruit maturity) is greater than 18 mm.   Jaltomata auriculata is also similar to J. antillana, especially when plants are young, but lacks gland-tipped hairs present on J. antillana.  

     Geographic Distribution: Andean South America, see this table: