Jaltomata of Peru's Department Lima

Jaltomata (Solanaceae) of Department Lima, Peru

Link to Jaltomata home page

Description of the genus Jaltomata

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, Connecticut 06050-4010, United States of America.

Literature Cited

	J. dentata	J. andersonii	J. aspera	J. hunzikeri	J. umbellata	J. propinqua	J. bicolor
Flower
Habit	Woody at base, herbaceous above	herbaceous (perennial?)	herbaceous to suffrutescent	shrub	shrub	shrub	shrub
Plant Height	20 - 50 (-70) cm	20 cm	20 - 58 cm	to 1 m	to 1.3 m	to 1.2 m	to 1.5 m
Corolla shape and size (when pressed)	crateriform; to 10 mm long by 15 mm across	broadly crateriform -rotate; to 3.7 cm across	broadly crateriform-rotate; to 4.2 cm across	probably short-tubular. The limb crateriform or broadly infundibular or rotate? Limb 16 -17 mm across	tubular with a somewhat planar limb, tube 6.5 - 8 mm long, the limb 14 - 23 mm across	tube (always present but not evident on some pressed flowers) 3 - 4 mm long; limb 19 - 27 mm across	tubular but with a limb as shown above, 2 - 3 cm long
Corolla Color	purple or white	purple (brown and whitish green on one specimen)	pale-green	white with a blue ring near end of tube	pale-green, the red at base of tube due to nectar showing through corolla	Purple, more intensely at center; less commonly "azules" or "azuladas hasta moradas"	bicolored in Dept. Lima: purple proximal 2/3, distal 1/3 pale-green to cream
Corolla having 5 pairs of maculae	Yes, visible in photo above	Yes, visible in photo above	No	No data	No	Looks like NO from photo and study of herbarium specimens, but living plants should be looked at (inside short-tubular part of cor)	No
elevation m	2600 - 3600	2300 - 3400	200 - 2290	80 - 300	300 - 500	2000 - 3000	2945 - 3820
Flowers Per Inflor	2 - many	1	1 (- 2 bud)	to 10	4 - 9	4 - 7 (-10)	2 - 4 (-6)

	J. dentata	J. andersonii	J. aspera	J. hunzikeri	J. umbellata	J. propinqua	J. bicolor
Both pedicel and peduncle?	yes, but peducle absent on parts of some specimens	no, single unarticulated axis	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
Hairs	not densely hairy; mostly finger, some branched, non-gland-tipped with a few possible exceptions	soft, gland-tipped	rigid and glandless	villous, gland-tipped	gland-tipped finger and non-glandular dendritic	young axes velutinous with long gland-tipped finger hairs to young axes sparsely pubescent that hairs not appearing gland-tipped	glabrate or sparsely hairy with non-gland-tipped finger or dendritic hairs
Stamen length	3 - 4 mm	6.9 - 7.2 mm	12 - 14 mm	4.8 - 7 mm	9.2 - 10.9 mm	8 - 13mm	25 - 30 mm
Anther color	cream	drying brown	cream or yellow or pale green	no data	yellow before and after dehiscence	blue to purple	blue to purple
Nectar Color	clear	clear	red	no data	red	clear	clear
Months in flower	Dec. - Apr. and one specimen was collected in August	Jan. - Mar.	Sep. - Oct. in lomas; Jan., Mar., Apr. in Andes	Sep.	July - Oct., Jan.	Nov - June	Nov. - July; mostly Jan., Mar., Apr.
Endemic to Dept. Lima?	Yes, if Weberbauer 7602 is a different species; No if Weberbauer 7602 is conspecific. Fieldwork in Huacavelica is needed.	No: one specimen known from Dept. Ancash	All specimens except one are from dept Lima	yes	yes	yes	no, but if the green-corolla plants (Department Ancash) are someday recognized as a different species, the answer will be yes
Fruit Color	described as cadmium yellow in protologue but I suspect it turns orange	no data, probably orange	orange (white, Macbride 1962)	no data, probably orange	orange	no data, probably orange	green according to herbarium specimen labels, but I suspect it turns orange
Fruit Eaten?	Yes	not mentioned on herbarium specimen labels	Yes	not mentioned on herbarium specimen labels	not mentioned on herbarium specimen labels	not mentioned on herbarium specimen labels	Yes

	J. dentata	J. andersonii	J. aspera	J. hunzikeri	J. umbellata	J. propinqua	J. bicolor
Common, rare?	common	apparently rare, possibly only flowerinig during (right after) el niño	not common, or perhaps common in places	rare or extinct; known from a single locality at which Mione, Leiva & Yacher could not find it	rare	not rare, possibly common	common
Bowl-shaped layer of tissue formed by bases of stamens	No	No	Yes, click here to see photos of this amazing structure	No	No	No	No
Synonyms	Saracha dentata R. P., S. lobata Bitter, S. sordideviolacea Bitter	none	Saracha ciliata Miers S. lacrima-virginis S. urbaniana Hebecladus asperus (R. & P.) Miers	none	Hebecladus umbellatus (R. & P.) Miers, H. turneri Miers	Saracha propinqua Miers, Hebecladus propinqua (Miers) Bitter	Hebecladus bicolor (R. & P.) Miers. H. biflorus (R. & P.) Miers. H. intermedius Miers H. weberbaueri Dammer
Sources	herbarium specimens; Mione 2001	Mione et al. 2004	Mione & Coe 1992; Mione 2001	Mione et al. 2000	Mione et al. 1993: Mione & Anderson 1996	Mione et al. 1993; Mione 2001	Mione et al. 1993; Mione 2001
photo by	T. Mione	T. Mione	A. Granda & G. Vilcapoma	S. J. Hevner	T. Mione	S. Leiva G.	S. Leiva G.
Mione & Leiva G. & Yacher collection numbers	609, 610, 611, 613, 618	616, 620, 622	615	none	623, 730	621	612, 617, 625, 627, 726, 728
Page Number in Brako and Zarucchi	1107	this sp. had not been described when I contributed to this work	1107	this sp. had not been described when I contributed to this work	1107-1108	1107	1107
Page Number(s) in Macbride 1962	33 - 34, as Saracha dentata; 35-36 as S. lobata; 37 as S. sordideviolacea	this sp. was not described	30 as Hebecladus asperus; 32 as Saracha cilata; 38-39 as S. urbaniana	39-40 as Saracha villosa (Zucc.) G. Don	37-38 as Hebecladus umbellatus	36-37 as Saracha propinqua	30-31 as Hebecladus bicolor; 35 as H. intermedius

Key to the Jaltomata of Department Lima, Peru:

1. One (rarely two) flower per inflorescence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1. Two to more flowers per inflorescence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2. Filaments glabous or very sparsely pubescent at base, nectar red, hairs not gland-tipped . . . . J. aspera

2. Filaments extremely villous at base, nectar clear, hairs gland-tipped . . . . . . . . . . . . .. J. andersonii

3. Corolla tubular, stamens over 2 cm long . . . . . . . . . . . J. bicolor

3. Corolla form variable, stamens under 2 cm long . . . . . . . . . 4

4. Below 1000 m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4. Above 1000 m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

5. Lacking colored ring near end of corola tube, stamens > 8 mm long. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J. umbellata

5. Blue ring near end of corolla tube, stamens < 8 mm long. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J. hunzikeri

6. Corolla having 5 pairs of maculae, stamens < 6 mm long, anthers cream or yellow . . . . . J. dentata

6. Corolla apparently lacking 5 pairs of maculae, stamens > 6 mm, anthers blue - purple . . . . . . . J. propinqua

Comparison With Ancash: The department of Ancash borders the department of Lima on Lima's north side. Lima has seven species while Ancash has at least ten. Two of the species are shared (J. andersonii & J. bicolor). Only one specimen of J. andersonii has been collected in the department of Ancash. Regarding J. bicolor, in Ancash the corolla is green and in department Lima the corolla is as shown above. If these actually represent distinct species then the plants from Ancash will get a new name. If J. bicolor is split in this manner, then I will report that only one Jaltomata species is shared in the departments of Lima and Ancash.

Red-Orange Nectar: In the Department of Lima only Jaltomata aspera and J. umbellata produce red-orange nectar. Click here for a table of Jaltomata species having red to orange nectar.

Islands: Three of these species (J. aspera, J. huzikeri, J. umbellata) may be viewed as growing on virtual islands (lomas). Two additional Jaltomata species grow on oceanic islands, J. antillana (Greater Antilles) and J. werffii (Galápagos Islands).

Jaltomata sp., basionym Saracha diffusa (Miers)
The type specimen of Saracha diffusa Miers is clearly a Jaltomata but the taxonomic transfer from Saracha to Jaltomata has not been done. Why? This species is known only from the type collection, and without any additional specimens from Peru there is no way for me to know if the collection locality information is in error. Jaltomata contorta is similar and is known from the same department of Peru, but see the following paragraph.

Jaltomata contorta (R. & P.) Mione
According to Ruiz & Pavon's protologue, the type specimen of Jaltomata contorta was collected in Peru, department Lima, Obrajillo (Mione et al. 1999). Graciela Vilcapoma Segovia told me (2005) that she criss crossed Obrajillo, knowing the area intimately, and never found this species. As well, Segundo Leiva G., Leon Yacher and I were unable to find this species in the Obrajillo area. The type of J. contorta was a cultivated specimen (according to the protologue) and it seems that seeds from somewhere else may have been mistakenly labeled as coming from Obrajillo, Peru. The type most closely resembles J. procumbens (The type specimen had it never been designated a type specimen, would merely be annotated as J. procumbens). Thus, perhaps I should not have transferred Saracha contorta to Jaltomata (Mione et al. 1999). I wonder if the seeds sent to Europe to grow the type specimen were collected in Peru. I expressed doubt about this (Mione, 2001).

Literature Cited
Geographic Distribution of the genus Jaltomata
Description of the genus Jaltomata

Acknowledgements: I thank Arturo Granda and Graciela Vilcapoma for sending me herbarium specimens of J. aspera, J. dentata and J. propinqua, the photo of J. aspera shown above, and for discussion of J. contorta. Gregory J. Anderson and Gabriel Bernardello provided the right environment conducive to the birth of this project. I thank Segundo Leiva G. and Leon Yacher for their collaboration. David Spooner sent me his specimens of J. dentata and J. propinqua. Rene Chavez sent to Tilton Davis IV seeds of J. umbellata and T. Davis generously passed the seeds on to me, resulting in the photo above.