Jaltomata antillana (Krug & Urban) D'Arcy
Greater Antilles
revised Sept 2023
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
Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 65: 780. 1978.
Figure 1. Flower of Jaltomata antillana. Diagnostic Features of this species: viscous-gland-tipped hairs of two length classes, white rotate corolla to 2.5 cm in diameter, pubescent/villous filaments, fruits bright red. The only Jaltomata of the Greater Antilles. Mione & Jimenez 547.

Above: Photo by Karena Kulakowski with prof T. Mione taken in greenhouse, in Connecticut;
plant grown for study from seed collected in Dominican Republic.
Shoot of Jaltomata antillana, grown in greenhouse at Central Connecticut State University from seed collected in the Dominican Republic. Photo by Ciara Kilkenny with prof T. Mione, accession Mione & Jimenez 547.
Shoot of Jaltomata antillana, grown in greenhouse at Central Connecticut State University from seed collected in the Dominican Republic.
Photo by Ciara Kilkenny with prof T. Mione, accession Mione & Jimenez 547.

 

Saracha antillana Krug and Urban., Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin 1(2):80. 1895. Type: JAMAICA. W. Harris 5109/5522 (Syntype: 5522 F!, photos of this specimen, F neg. 49398, F!, WIS!). D'Arcy (l.c.) indicated the syntypes as being present at, "B, if extant, neither seen". But no syntype was present in a loan from B. However, all Jaltomata types deposited at B were destroyed prior to World War II, so the syntype not seen (5109) could have been at B prior to World War II. Taxonomic Literature II indicates that W. Harris' herbarium and types are at NY and MONTU; no syntype is at MONTU (pers. comm., Acting Curator of MONTU) nor was a syntype obtained in a loan from NY.

Leaves, branches, peduncles, pedicles and abaxial face of calyx villous, finger hairs all uniseriate, viscous-gland-tipped, of two length classes. Peduncle to 3.3 cm long; sometimes fused to stem and as a result the pedicel appearing sessile. Flowering calyx green; 9 - 15 mm in diameter; lobe radius 4.8 - 8 mm; sinus radius 2 - 4 mm. Filaments, slender part with pubescence along at least the proximal 88 %, the hairs clear/unpigmented. Description based on greenhouse-grown plants from seed of Mione & Jimenez 547.

Character Description Figures
Habit & Height
Shrub; erect; to about 1 m high.  
Branches, young
hollow  
Older
   
Leaves, size Leaves toothed to subentire.  
shape    
arrangement and hairs    
petiole    
Inflorescence
4 - 13 flowered  
peduncle
   
pedicel
Pedicel 1 - 2 cm long.  
Calyx at flowering    
at fruit maturity    
Corolla, lobes/lobules
rotate, 10-lobed, closing at night.  
shape and size
20 - 26 mm in diameter; lobe radius 10.5 - 11 mm; sinus radius 6.2 - 7.5 mm  
color
white  
hairs
adaxially with a vesture of finger trichomes 0.26 - 0.28 mm long;  
radial corolla thickenings
   
Stamen, length incl anther    
filaments    
anther color & length as long as wide, 1.3 - 1.6 mm long by 1.4 - 1.6 mm wide; pale-white or pale-yellow green 3
anthers of a flower open simultaneously? no, among anthers of a flower dehiscence sometimes temporally staggered  
pollen grains 39,000 - 49,000 per androecium.
diameter (polar view): mean 29.775, range 27.5 - 31.25 micrometers,
(n = 50 grains, stained in cotton blue in lactophenol,
anthers stored in 70% ethanol prior, Mione 547, plant grown in Connecticut).
pollen size by Alison L. Grissom, year 2007 or 2008
Gynoecium
   
Stigma
at same height as the dehisced anthers,
overhead dimensions 0.4 - 0.44 mm by 0.44 - 0.48 mm
 
Style
including stigma 2.6 - 3.4 mm long  
Ovary
   
Ovules per ovary
120 - 162  
Nectar    
Herkogamy    
Protogyny    
Fruit color (at maturity) and size red, 8.5 X 10.75  
Infructescence    
Seeds per fruit 181  
Seed Size (field-collected) 1.1 - 1.12 mm long  
Chromosome number
no data  
Growability in Connecticut, USA
not difficult  
How long does it take from flower to ripe fruit?
   
Self-Compatible
yes Mione 1992
Seed Germination
easy, seeds stored for over a decade germinated
 

Distribution and Habitat: All islands of the Greater Antilles, disturbed habitats.

Uses and Local Name: unknown.

Dominican Republic specimens, Jaltomata antillana
Province Locality elevation m habitat date collector data entry
LA VEGA Carretera Constanza a Pinar Parejo, cerca de Rio Pinar Parejo
1,646
sitio semi-humedo, area perterbado recentamente, creciendo con Bocconia frutescens 12 Feb 1991 T. Mione & F. Jimenez 547 (COLO, CONN, MEXU, USD)
Aug 2010
Barahona Cachete 18 06' 16.2" N, 71 11' 18.6" W
no data
rainforest on limestone substrate 20 May 2004 P. Acevedo-Rdgz. et al. 13829 (US) Aug 2010
near Canote, about 5 miles W of Aceitillar, Baoruco Mts Pedernales
1400
shady places at the bottom of the gorge, among limestone rocks 9 Nov 1969 A. H. Liogier 16865 (US) Aug 2010
loma de la Sal, Jarabacoa
1300
small ravine, cloud forest 17-18 June1968 A. H. Liogier 11711 (US) Aug 2010

Jamaica specimens, Jaltomata antillana
Province Locality elevation habitat date collector data entry
parish of Portland Trail to Old England, west and north of Hardwar Gap
1250 - 1311
disturbed montane forest-elfin woodland 4 Aug 1965 H. A. Hespenheide et al. 732 (US) Aug 2010

 

to be added to tables showing specimens studied:

HAITI. vicinity of Furcy, mt. Tranchant, 1,300 m, 26 May to 15 Jun 1920,
E. C. Leonard 4791 (US).
PORTO RICO. Cerro de Punta, 1,300 m, 21 Jul 1962, Bro. Alain 9533 (NY).
JAMAICA. Hardware Gap, 4,000', 12 Feb 1908,
W. Harris 10120 (F, NY, US).
CUBA. Oriente, slopes of La Bayamesa, crest of the Sierra Maestra near Aserradero San Antonio de los Cumbres, 1,500 - 1,800 m, 21 - 24 Jan 1956,
C. V. Morton 9234 (US).

Fuentes (1990) includes a list of specimens collected in Cuba, a distribution map showing known collection localities in Cuba, and describes J. antillana.

fruits (red) of Jaltomata antillana
 
Fruits (red fruits are ripe, green unripe) of Jaltomata antillana. Fruits are abundantly self-set in pollinator-free greenhouse.
Photo by Thomas Mione in the Dominican Republic.
Stamens (anthers undehsiced) of Jaltomata antillana. Left, ventral view; right, dorsal view. Units on left and right are mm. Photo by Thomas Mione 2012 after flowers had been preserved in 70% ethanol for years. Mione & Jimenez 547.

Above: Leaf of J. antillana. Numbered units on ruler are cm. Plant grown in Connecticut, USA, from seeds of collection Mione & Jimenz 547.
Above: Plant of J.antillana, growning outdoors on TM's back deck in New Britain, Connecticut, USA; summer 2023, ruler 30.5 cm long is on top of plant's pot. Mione & Jimenez 547.
Above: Leaves of J. antillana, growing on TM's back deck outdoors in New Britain, CT, summer 2023, on bottom of ruler numbered units are cm. Mione & Jimenez 547.
Above: Base of stem of J. antillana. This species has been described as herbaceous (Adams 1972) but grew to become woody at base in one summer, grown outdoors in New Britain, CT, year 2023. On ruler numbered units are cm. Photo by Sarah E. Anacleto at Central Connecticut State University's outdoor garden. Mione & Jimenez 547.

Adams, C. D. 1972. Flowering Plants of Jamaica. Mona, Jamaica: University of the West Indes, 848 pp. [J. antillana as Saracha antillana on p. 657]

Literature Cited