| Jaltomata (Solanaceae) of the lomas formations of Peru |
updated 2010 |
Link to Jaltomata homepage |
The information on this page may be cited as a communication with both professor Thomas Mione, Central Connecticut State University, Biology Department, Copernicus Hall, 1615 Stanley Street, New Britain, CT 06050-4010, and Segundo Leiva G., Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego, Av. America Sur 3145, Casilla Postal 1075, Trujillo Peru. |
Literature Cited |
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no image of one species represented by Weigend & Forther 97/701 |
Lomas formations are highly endemic plant communities occurring in near-shore locations of Peru and Chile where ocean fog provides sufficient moisture for the development of vegetation (nearly verbatim from Dillon 2005). "Each locality is an island of vegetation among a virtual ocean of arid desert, ..." (Dillon 2005). In the genus Jaltomata there are six or seven species that grow in this habitat. |
In the following table the Jaltomata of the Peruvian lomas are listed (left to right) from north to south.
Islands: All of the above species may be viewed as growing on virtual islands. Two additional Jaltomata species grow on oceanic islands, J. antillana (Greater Antilles) and J. werffii (Galápagos Islands). Deciduous: Jaltomata truxillana (Cerro Campana, Department La Libertad) is deciduous, dropping its leaves for the dry season. Jaltomata umbellata appears not to be deciduous: I visited a population at Reserva Nacional de Lachay in June of 2005 during a drought and plants had leaves! Whether or not the other species are deciduous is unknown. Endemism: At least four of the five to six species are endemic to the lomas; see table for details. |
Key to the Jaltomata of the Peruvian lomas formations: 1. Herbaceous but perhaps woody at base; corolla broadly campanulate (not tubular), nectar red . . 2 1. Shrubs; corolla short-tubular with a limb, green to white, nectar clear or red . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2. Lacking corolla maculae, the corolla green-yellow or yellow-green . . . J. aspera 3. Corolla tube at least 6.5 mm long and containing red nectar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J. umbellata 3. Tubular part of the corolla less than 6.5 mm long, lacking red nectar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 4. Corolla with blue ring in tube; young axes, petioles, peduncles, pedicels, and abaxial face of calyx villous J. hunzikeri 4. Corolla tube lacking blue ring; axes and leaves glabrous or nearly so . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 5. Corolla white, the limb spreading (not planar); stamens included . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J. lomana 5. Corolla limb lavender near tube, fading to white toward margin of limb, the limb planar; stamens exserted . . . . . J. truxillana |
| Acknowledgements: Gregory J. Anderson and Gabriel Bernardello provided the environment conducive to the birth of this project. Michael Dillon has provided valuable information about the lomas habitat, in correspondence, copies of his published works and in presentations at meetings. I thank Arturo Granda and Graciela Vilcapoma for sending me herbarium specimens and the photo of J. aspera shown above. Arturo Granda brought the Arequipa specimen (collected by Weigend) to my attention in 2001. Segundo Leiva illustrated J. lomana (shown in the table) and took the photo of J. truxillana shown. Rene Chavez sent to Tilton Davis IV seeds of J. umbellata and T. Davis generously passed the seeds on to me. |