Table of Jaltomata species (Solanaceae) having Red/Orange nectar
revised Aug 2019
Link to Jaltomata
homepage
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 USA, and
Segundo Leiva G., Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego, Av. América Sur 3145, Casilla postal 1075, Trujillo, Peru
Literature Cited
Link to list of edible Jaltomata species Description and Geographic Distibution of the genus Jaltomata Pollination of Jaltomata

Flower

species

habit

nectar color

Mione #

Distribution

Altitude (m)
Hairs Flowers Per Inflor Where two sepals are fused, is an outward keel formed? Corolla form;

Corolla size (mm);

Corolla color

Radial corolla thickenings ?
Corolla lobules
corona
   

J. herrerae

shrub

nectar red

Peru, mostly Dept. Cuzco, also Ayacucho; Bolivia, La Paz.

3,000 - 3,800
 
1 - 2 (-3 including buds on 563, 564)
No

campanulate with a revolute limb;
35-45 broad at mouth X 15-20 long (deep)

light green

yes, evident in photo

as long as wide, not notched
no
  1

J. neei

shrub

nectar red

Peru, Dept. Cajamarca, prov San Miguel

2,645
 
to 3
No
campanulate-tubular with a broad nearly flat limb; 28 - 39 mm broad at limb X about 13 mm long (deep)

green turning to blue with age


yes, evident in photo at left

wider than long;

not notched
no
2
  J. estilopilosa

Peru, Dept. Amazonas


2,994

            no   3

J. paneroi

shrub


nectar
red

Peru, Dept. Cajamarca


3,200 - 3,550

Densely hairy: finger, forked and dendritic, never gland-tipped
3 - 4 (-6)
No

campanulate with a revolute limb;
23-25 broad at mouth X 5-10 long (deep)

green


yes, evident in photo

short (wider than long), not notched
no
4

J. alviteziana

suffrutescent or shrub

nectar
red

Peru, Dept. Cajamarca


2,960 m

dense covering of dendritic hairs on peducle, pedicel, and calyx, and outer corolla with dendritic hairs on main veins
2 (-3)
No

corolla form:

Corolla Size: limb 25-27 mm long, tube 12-12.2 long X 12-13 diameter

yes  
no
5

Wurdack 1177 (K, NY, US)

shrub

nectar orange

Peru, Dept. Amazonas, prov. Chachapoyas

2,750-2,850
Densely hairy: long, gland-tipped finger hairs
1 - 2
No Data

no data;
30 - 34 mm broad at mouth X no data

"pale green lobes and white sinuses"
no data
no
   

J. dendroidea

shrub

nectar red

Peru, Dept. La Libertad, prov Pataz

3,200 - 3,523

leaves:
hairs all or predominatnly dendritic
1 - 3 (-4)
No to ever so slightly

campanulate;
32 mm broad X 11 mm long (deep)

green

yes, evident in photo

lobules essentially lacking (see photo)
no
6
 

J. weigendiana

shrub

nectar red

 

Peru, Dept. Huanuco, prov Pataz

3,727 m

            no   7

J. leivae

suffrutescent or shrub

nectar
red

Peru, Dept. Cajamarca


2,630 - 2,650

 
(1-) 2 (-3)
No

urceolate with a revolute limb; 14 broad at mouth, 10 broad at base X 7 - 9 long (deep)

the limb blue-violet,

the tube red-violet

yes

short
no
8
Flower

species

habit

nectar color

Mione #

Distribution

Altitude (m)
Hairs Flowers
Per Inflor
Where two sepals meet, is an outward keel formed? Corolla form;

Corolla size (mm);

Corolla color

Radial corolla thickenings

?
Corolla lobules
corona
   

J. weberbaueri

shrub

red-orange nectar

Peru, Dept. Ancash

3,000 - 3,800 m
glabrous
(except for base of filament and adax face of corolla)
1 (-2)(-3 incl. buds)
Yes
broadly campanulate; 55-60 broad X 40-45 long (deep)

violet

yes, conspicuous in photo

absent
no
  9

J. grandibaccata, J. guillermo-guerrae

shrub

nectar red

Peru, Dept. La Libertad

3,400-3,530
leaves glabrous
1 - 2
Yes
broadly campanulate; 32-36 broad X 19-27 long (deep)

green to green-blue; blue inside

Yes

short (wider than long), not notched
no
10

J. ventricosa

shrub

nectar orange-red*

Peru, Dept. La Libertad

2,900-3,755
glabrate
1 - 2 (-4)
Yes

urceolate, limb revolute; 12-14.5 broad X 8-10 long (deep)

limb whitish to pale green or pale yellow, tube red-violet

Yes

about as wide as long, curled under when flower fully open
no
11

J. umbellata

shrub

nectar red*

Peru, Dept. Lima, lomas

to 500
 
4 - 9
No
tubular with a rotate to campanulate limb; 14 - 23 broad X 9.2-10.9 long (deep)
the limb cream to pale green; the tube red because of nectar
none
no
  12
flower

species

habit

nectar color

Mione #

Distribution

Altitude
Hairs Flowers
Per Inflor
Where two sepals meet, is an outward keel formed? Corolla form;

Corolla size (mm)

corolla color

Radial corolla thickenings?

corolla lobules
corona
   

J. aspera

herbaceous to suffrutescent

nectar red

 

Peru, Dept. Lima, small coastal mountains called lomas
0 - 500 m, and in Andes 1,600 - 2,550 m
 
1 (very rarely 2)
No

crateriform rotate

to 49 broad

greenish-yellow or yellow-green

no

none
yes
  13

J. calliantha

herbaceous

nectar
orange to red

711, 758, 855, 856

Peru, Department La Libertad, province Otuzco and Department Ancash, prov Huaylas

1,420 - 2,100 m
leaves glabrous
1
No

campanulate

Aftter pickled: 3 cm across X 1 cm deep; fresh fl 3.4 cm across

green

no

no
yes
14

J. quipuscoae

herbaceous to suffrutescent

nectar red

Peru, Department Arequipa

           
yes
  15
flower

species

habit

nectar color

Mione #

Distribution

Altitude (m)
  Flowers
Per Inflor
Where two sepals meet, is an outward keel formed? Corolla form

Ccorolla size (mm)

corolla color

Radial corolla thickenings?

corolla lobules
corona
   

J. biflora

shrub

usually clear, can turn amber or orange* as flower ages

Peru, Dept. Junin

 

2,700 - 3,200

 
1-2 (-3 according to Macbride 1962)
ever so slightly
urceolate with a narrow mouth and broad base; corolla base 14 broad (cultivated plants) X 13 long (deep);

green

 

yes

about as long as wide, triangular, sometimes notched
no
   
 

J. contumacensis

shrub

netar clear or orange*

Peru, Dept. Cajamarca

2,530 - 3,000

 
2 (-3)
No
urceolate-tubular with a broad nearly flat (slightly recurved) limb; (16--) 18-19 broad at the limb X12 long (deep)

green

 

slightly

triangular, free part about 2 mm wide at base by 2 mm long
no
   

J. sanchez-vegae

shrub

nectar clear in nature,
can turn orange*

in cultivation

Peru, Departments
La Libertad, Cajamarca, Amazonas.


gland-tipped finger hairs
1 - 2
No
urceolate-tubular with a recurved limb; 11 across at base, the limb 17 mm broad X 12 long (deep)

green with a purple base

 

 

Yes

Lobules evident in photo, triangular, slightly longer than width at base or as long as width at base.
no
 
 
J. bicolor

nectar usually clear,
can turn orange*

in cultivation
             
no
   
 

J. yungayensis

nectar usually clear,
can turn orange*

in cultivation, Koystyun, personal communication, observations on cultivated 723

             
no
   
flower

species

habit

nectar color

Mione #

Distribution

Altitude
Hairs Flowers
Per Inflor
Where two sepals meet, is an outward keel formed? Corolla form;

Corolla size (mm)

corolla color

Radial corolla thickenings?

Corolla lobules corona    

* corolla transparent, nectar can be seen through corolla wall

The species in the table above are a subset of the species that grow in Peru and Bolivia. All other Jaltomata species (not in the table) produce clear or nearly clear nectar.   Habitat, corolla-form, and elevation vary greatly among the species having red/orange nectar. Thirteen of these species regularly produce this nectar, two of which (J. umbellata and J. aspera) grow in the lomas formation, a fog-fed desert habitat of the west coast of South America having a high level of endemism (Dillon 1997).   Other Jaltomata having red/orange nectar grow in higher and moister or seasonally moist habitats.

Jaltomata that produce red/orange nectar are usually woody. One exception, J. calliantha, is herbaceous above-ground but its above-ground parts die back during the dry season. Another possible exception is J. aspera, which has been described by different authors as suffrutescent and herbaceous.   I suspect J. aspera is suffrutescent from the herbarium specimens I have seen.

Some of the Jaltomata species having this rare nectar color have tubular to urceolate corollas (see above), while the others have much more open corollas (for example, the corolla of J. paneroi corolla is campanulate, and the corolla of J. aspera is crateriform).   All Jaltomata that produce red/orange nectar have corollas that remain open at night (this was directly studied for only some of these species and was inferred for the others based on corolla form). Among the Jaltomata species that have clearish nectar some species have corollas that remain open at night, and others close in the late afternoon opening again the next day.  

What makes the red/orange nectar red/orange?
The pigment has not yet been identified. Stacy Smith generously did HPLC on the nectar at Duke University, from samples mailed to her by T. M. on dry filter paper. She wrote "The red in the nectar is not anthocyanins. There may be some related compounds (flavonols) but no red anthocyanins, such as pelargonidin. It is unlikely that the color is from carotenoids because carotenoids are only stable if sequestered in chromoplasts. It couldn't be betalains because Solanaceae don't make those (personal communication March 2009)."  Olesen et al. (1998), using proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, identified the red pigment in the nectar of Nescodon sp. as a temperature-sensitive aurone (the nectar they studied "contained 22 -25% w/w hexose-dominated sugar").

Lobules - lobules (when present) alternate with corolla lobes. In the photos above lobules are clearly evident in J. contumacensis.

Radial Corolla Thickenings - these extend, where present, from the base of each stamen to the sinus or lobule of the corolla. In the photos above these are most conspicuous in J. weberbaueri but are also evident in J. paneroi and J. herrerae.

Mione et al. (1994) studied the phylogeny of Jaltomata, but only two species producing red/orange nectar were included.   These two species were members of an unresolved lineage, the other species of the lineage produce clear nectar, and so no statement about single versus multiple origins of red/orange can be made with the results of this paper. Many woody Jaltomata species do not produce red/orange nectar.   

In Jaltomata red nectar tends to be produced in greater volumes than clear nectar, but this trend is not absolute.   At the extremes of variation, on the one hand, are J. paneroi, J. umbellata, J. ventricosa and J. weberbaueri all of which produce copious red/orange nectar.   And on the other hand, J. antillana, J. confinis, J. grandiflora, J. procumbens, J. repandidentata and J. sinuosa have been grown by T. M. for study and produce clear nectar in minute amounts.   Of these species the nectar volume of only J. sinuosa was measured, producing 0.3 to 1.75 microliters of nectar during its hermaphroditic phase (7 microcapillary tube readings were done on greenhouse plants of two accessions).

The nectar of J. aijana, J. biflora and J. yungayensis is usually clear but can turn amber or orange in color as the flower ages (Mione et al. 2001, unpublished greenhouse observations for J. aijana, Kostyun personal communication for J. aijana & J. yungayensis).   For J. biflora, estimates of sugar concentration (refractometer) ranged from 14 to 14.4 (average 14.2%, n = 2) for the pistillate phase, and 26 to 57.6 % (average 39%, n = 5) for the hermaphroditic phase (Mione et al. 2001). Jaltomata sanchez-vegae: microcapillary tube measurements of volume gave 20 to 60 microliters for the hermaphroditic phase (8 measurements), and 18 to 24 microliters during the preceding pistillate phase (two readings). Flowers of J. biflora produce 0 to 47 microliters of nectar.

Acknowledgements:
I thank Segundo Leiva G. and Leon Yacher for their collaboration, and David Spooner for sending me his specimens. I thank Arturo Granda and Graciela Vilcapoma for sending me herbarium specimens of J. aspera and the photo of J. aspera shown above. Gregory J. Anderson and Gabriel Bernardello provided an environment conducive to the birth of this project. 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. Stacey Smith (March 2009) generously gave of her time to analze red/orange nectar with HPLC. Jamie Kostyun was the first to demonstrate that, in captivity, the nectar of J. aijana is pale-orange, and I thank her for sharing photos of this.