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Inflorescences and leaves

(plant grown from seed of the type collection, photo by Mione).

Plant at right was pressed in Ecuador (type collection).

Plant at left was pressed in Connecticut, after being grown from seed of the type collection.

The plant at right was probably competing for nutrients and sun while the plant at left was not competing for nutrients and sun.

This should give us pause when we consider describing a new species from a single collection or from a single cultivated plant. Smallest units on ruler shown in photo are mm.

Photo by Mione.

FLORAL BIOLOGY

     To look for structures that may release scent (osmophores), flowers were stained in 0.01% neutral red for several hours and then observed with bright field microscopy (Kearns and Inouye 1993).   Observations on floral phenology were made in May of 1992 at UConn, and March to May of 1998 at CCSU.   Chromosome counts were made with meiocytes of immature anthers stained with acetic carmine.   Floral fragrance was evaluated by seven people who were blindfolded and asked to describe the fragrance of an empty jar and then a jar containing flowers.   Jars were uncapped seconds before being placed in close proximity to the nose.   To examine seed set flowers were manually pollinated during the pistillate and hermaphroditic phases.   Undehisced anthers were removed at the time of pollination.

The stigma (including papillae) stained darkly with neutral red but the style did not.   Anthers and pollen stained darkly while filaments did not.   Multicellular glands, located on the abaxial face of the corolla and both faces of the calyx, stained darkly, except for the stalk cell.   Similar glands have been described on the leaves of Solanum (Seithe 1979) and Physalis (Seithe and Sullivan 1990).   Neither the corolla margin hairs nor the hairs of the filaments absorbed stain.   On the multicellular finger hairs only the glandular tip, when present, absorbed stain.   Hand-sections of epidermal tissue of the ovary disk, stained and then observed with a compound microscope, revealed that the nectary disk absorbs stain only in the immediate vicinity of the stomata.   The guard cells stained deeply, and the cells surrounding the guard cells also absorbed stain but staining was less intense.   Flowers produce a subtle fragrance that was described as licorice-like, vanilla-like, or faintly sweet by seven people polled (two of these people also detected a fragrance in the empty/control jar) and the authors.  

     Flowers remain open 5 to 7 days (mean 5.7 days, n = 9 flowers) and close each night.   Within an inflorescence one to four flowers are open at a time.   The corolla is pale-green prior to anthesis but after the corolla opens for the first time it becomes white and remains white.   The anthers of a flower either dehisce a few at a time over the course of several hours, or two or three of the anthers dehisce one day and the others dehisce the next day.   Anthers dehisced prior to 8:30 am.   Some flowers exhibited one day of protogyny, with the stigma protruding through the partially open corolla.   Two out of three flowers manually pollinated during the pistillate phase set seed, as did many (percentage not calculated) of the flowers that were manually pollinated during the hermaphroditic phase.   In the greenhouse, plants did not set fruit unless hand-pollinated.   This is likely due to herkogamy: the stigma is located 3 to 8 mm from the anthers.   Nectar drops at the base of the corolla (alternating with the stamens) were large enough to be observed by eye.   The broad, orange ovary disk (easily seen in the top photo) is concentric around the green ovary and increases the diameter of the ovary by 1 to 1.5 mm relative to the diameter the ovary would be without the disk.   Nectar seems to be secreted by the ovarian disk but may also be secreted by the base of the corolla.  

TAXONOMY

Jaltomata lojae (Solanaceae) of southern Ecuador and northern Peru is distinguished by the following features: finger hairs borne by the leaves and stems; a white, broadly infundibular to rotate corolla; exserted stigma; a broad nectary disk; and orange fruits.   Corollas change from pale-green to white at anthesis. Flowers are self-compatible, herkogamous, and sometimes protogynous.   Microscopic, densely staining, multicellular glands are located on the perianth.  

Jaltomata lojae is similar to J. chotanae (white flowes & orange fruits).