| Link to Jaltomata home page | 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 |
| Jaltomata biflora (R. & P.) Benítez. Rev. Fac. Agron (Maracay), IX (1): 91 - 92. Saracha biflora Ruiz & Pav. Flora Peruviana 2: 42-43, t. 179. 1797-99. [not Atropa biflora, a synonym of J. bicolor] In the book The Journals of Hipólito Ruiz, this species is mentioned on page 114, as Saracha biflora. Tarma is one of the provinces of the department of Junin, Peru. Ruiz wrote (page 113) "During the 11 months that we remained in the province of Tarma, exploring the area and carrying out botanical excursions in all directions, we discovered in those gorges and at the edge of the forest a considerable number of trees, shrubs, and herbs that had familiar uses, medicinal properties, or economic potential. The following are those that I collected, dried, and described; illustrations were done for nearly all of them." And then he lists numerous species, including (on page 114) Saracha biflora. He makes no mention of humans uses of this species in this work. For more information about this species, see Mione et al. (2001). |
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Three anthers have dehsiced, two (part of the shorter stamens) have not yet dehisced. |
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The above photo and the photo on the left are of Daniel Mugaburu's collection, grown as Mione 608 and photographed in Connecticut by Mione.
Mione is indebted to Daniel Mugaburu for seeds and pressed specimens of this species collected at the type locality. |
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This photo is of the type specimen housed in Paris. Smallest units on ruler are mm. (photo by Mione, with a Nikon Coolpix 885, illuminated with four incandescent bulbs). |
| Unpublished greenhouse observations: Styles measured during the hermaphroditic phase ranged in length from 12 to 18 mm, with the extremes of this range present on the same plant at the same time. After two to three days of being pistillate, flowers with longer styles automatically self-pollinated because the stigma came in contact with the dehisced anthers. Flowers having shorter styles were similarly protogynous but were also herkogamous: dehisced anthers and the stigma remained separated by 3 mm and the stigma remained free of pollen in the absence of pollinators. Style length variation data are preliminary given low sample size (n = 7 measurements) and because for this study T.M. used three plants and did not know if these were from separate seeds, or cuttings of one or two individuals (seeds were sown in 1996 but these observations were not made until the year 2000). |
| Morphological Character | description |
|---|---|
| Hairs | dense indument of gland-tipped finger hairs on calyx & corolla |
| Corolla color and shape | green and urceolate |
| Corolla Size: | 1.3 cm long, the base to 1.4 cm in diameter |
| Corolla lobes/lobules | 5 narrowly triangular lobes alternating with inconspicuous lobules |
| Anther color | purple before dehiscence |
| Style Length (hermph phase) | 12 to 18 mm, with the extremes of this range present on the same plant at the same time |
Protologue lists flowering months as: November & December