Jaltomata auriculata (Miers) Mione |
Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and one specimen from Bolivia |
revised 12 Oct 2018 |
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, Connecticut 06050-4010, United States of America. |
Figure 1. Two open flowers, anthers dehisced (Plowman & Davis 4449 grown as Mione 450, photo by T. Mione) |
Figure 2. Back of flower (Plowman & Davis 4449 grown as Mione 450, photo by T. Mione) |
Figure 3. Potted plant of Jaltomata auriculata (Plowman & Davis 4449 grown as Mione 450, photo by T. Mione) |
Figure 4. Ripe Fruits of Jaltomata auriculata (Plowman & Davis 4449 grown as Mione 450, photo by T. Mione) |
For the living plants shown in photos, seeds were germinated at Central Connecticut State University and plants were grown outdoors in Burlington, CT, during the summer of 2003.
transfer to the genus Jaltomata: Brittonia 51(1) 1999, pages 31-32.
Saracha auriculata Miers, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 2, 3: 448. 1849. Miers, Illustr. S. Amer. Pl. 2: 18, t. 38A. 1857.
Witheringia auriculata (Miers) Miers, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 2, 11: 92. 1853.
TYPE: COLOMBIA. Dept. Tolima, Playas del Combeima, 4 o 19' N, 75 o 09' W, J. Goudot s.n . (HOLOTYPE: K; ISOTYPE: P, photo of P specimen, F neg. 39249). The taxonomic transfer of this species from Saracha to Jaltomata was proposed by Castillo (unpublished, 1974, page 115).
Habit & Height | erect, herb/suffrutescent to 1 m tall. | |
Young Branches | ||
Older Branches | Glabrate | |
Leaf Size | to 20 cm long (including petiole) | |
Leaf Shape | ovate | |
Leaves | strongly toothed to sinuate on the same plant, to subentire; terminally acuminate to obtuse | |
Flowers Per Inflorescence | 4 - 6 | |
Peduncle | to 2.9 cm long; green; glabrous | |
Pedicel | Pedicel to 2 cm long; green; glabrous; bract to 9 mm long sometimes arising from base | |
Calyx at Flowering | Flowering calyx 6 - 8 mm in diameter; lobe radius 2.5 - 3 mm; sinus radius 1.5 - 1.6 mm; glabrous. | |
Corolla shape and size | ||
Corolla lobes/lobules | Corolla rotate; white to yellowish (always white on plants of Plowman & Davis 4449 I cultivated, shown in these photos); "white with a ring of 10 light green marks at base" (Asplund 19223); 5-lobed or 10-lobed with the lobules inconspicuous; 17 - 19 mm in diameter; lobe radius 7 mm; sinus radius 4.5 mm; closing at night. | |
Corolla color and hairs | ||
Stamen length | 3.2 - 3.6 mm | |
filaments | the slender part pubescent on basal 1/2 - 2/3 of the length with unpigmented finger trichomes to 1 mm long | |
anther color | dull white | |
anther size | undehisced 1.1 - 1.3 mm long by 1.2 - 1.4 mm wide | |
anther mucronate | ||
anthers of a flower open simultaneously? | ||
pollen quantity | 49,687 grains per androecium (n = 1 flower) | pollen count by CCSU student Elisabeth dos Santos 2011 |
pollen grain size | 30 - 37.5 µm | |
Stigma | ||
Disk around ovary | ||
Style including length | 1.9 - 2.5 mm long including stigma. | |
Ovules per ovary | 176 - 212 | |
Nectar | ||
Herkogamy? | No, stigma at same height as dehisced anthers | |
Protogyny | ||
Fruit color (at maturity) and size | bright red (Figures 4, 6), remaining attached to the parent plant after ripening, suggesting bird dispersal | |
Calyx at fruit maturity | ||
Infructescence | ||
Seeds | 1.0 mm long | |
Chromosome number | ||
Growability in Connecticut, USA | not difficult | |
How long does it take from flower to ripe fruit? | ||
Self-Compatible? | yes | Mione 1992 (page 27) and K. Kostyun (personal communication Jan 2016, Mione 450) |
Seed Germination |
stigma overhead dimensions 0.5 - 0.6 mm by 0.6 - 0.8 mm. Description unless otherwise noted based on plants grown from seeds of Plowman & Davis 4449.
Diagnostic Features: glabrate, small white flowers, pubescent/villous filaments, bright red fruits.
Distribution and Ecology: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and one specimen from Bolivia; usually collected between 1400 m and 2100 m (see elevation column in table below), usually in disturbed habitats including roadsides. Flowering and fruiting in the months listed below in the table of collections. Jaltomata auriculata is autogamous and self-compatible; fruits were abundantly self-set in a pollinator-free greenhouse. Fruits are bright red, 5 - 11 mm across, and remain attached to the parent plant after ripening, suggesting bird dispersal. When ripe fruits are manually removed or fall the calyx and pedicel usually remain attached to plant.
Jaltomata auriculata resembles J. nitida (Bitter) Mione. Both possess glabrate leaves, white flowers and orange to red fruits. They are easily distinguished, however, as the filaments of J. auriculata are villous along the lower half, and the calyx diameter (at fruit maturity) is less than 16 mm, whereas J. nitida has glabrous filaments and the calyx diameter (at fruit maturity) is greater than 16 mm. Jaltomata auriculata is also similar to J. antillana, especially when plants are young, but lacks gland-tipped hairs present on J. antillana.
Geographic Distribution: Andean South America, see this table:
Country | Primary Political | Locality | elev- ation |
habitat | date | collector | data entry |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Venezuela | Mérida, Dto. Libertador | la carretera para Acariqua, entre el caserío San Jacinto y la quebrada abajo de El Plan | 1500-2250 | orillas de la carretera | 27 Dec 1977 | Ruiz-Terán 14980 (K MERF) | Jan 2007 |
Colombia | Dept. Tolima | TYPE SPECIMEN: Playas del Combeima, 4 19 18" N, 75 08 50" W | no data
|
no data
|
no data | Goudot s.n. (K) | Jan 2007 |
Dept. Tolima | Prov. Mariquita | no data
|
no data
|
1851 - 1857 | J. Triana 1866 (G) | Jan 2007 |
|
Ecuador | Prov. Pichincha | Reserva Florística-Ecológica "Río Guajalito" a 3.5 km al NE del km 59.5 carretera antigua Quito-Santo Domingo de los Colorados; 0 13' 53" S, 78 48' 10" W | 1800-2200 | en bosque nublado de vegetacion primaria y alrededores | 20 Jul 1987 | V. Zak & J. Jaramillo 2187 (F NY) | Jan 2007 |
Prov. Pichincha | rd. from Aloag to Santo Domingo de los Colorados, km 36 | 2104 | roadside | 17 Nov 1974 | Plowman & Davis 4449 (GH, K); grown as Mione 450 | Jan 2007 |
|
Prov. Tungurahua | valley of Río Pastaza, between Machai and La Victoria | 1400 | roadside in forest | 24 Aug 1939 | Asplund 8500 (NY) | Jan 2007 |
|
Prov. Tungurahua | Hacienda Machai | 1500 | no data |
4 Feb 1956 | Asplund 19223 (B NY) | Jan 2007 |
|
Prov. Tungurahua | Río verde Grande | 1500 | no data |
30 Mar 1956 | Asplund 20074 (B G K NY) | Jan 2007 |
|
Peru | Dept Cajamarca, prov. San Ignacio | San Martín (San Ignacio - El Chaupe) | 1590 | borde de camino | 12 Aug 1996 | S. Leiva & N. Sawyer 1850 (HAO) | Jan 2007 |
Dept Cajamarca, prov. San Ignacio | ruta Marisahua-El Chaupe | 1860 | borde de camino, entre Verbesina | 3 Jan 1998 | S. Leiva G. et al. 2091 (HAO) | Jan 2007 |
|
Dept Cajamarca, prov. Paucartambo | Valle de Kosñipata, Rocotal 13 08' 45.5" S, 71 05' 17.4" W |
2215 |
borde de carretera, derrumbe natural, expuesta al sol | 25 Oct 2007 | M. Cueva & I. Treviño s.n. (HUSA) | Feb 2010 |
|
Dept. Cuzco, prov. La Convencion | Sahuayaco, Río Chalpimayo above Pacchar | 1174 |
cafetal in shade | 25 Jan 1975 | Plowman & Davis 4861 (CUZ, GH, K, MO) | Jan 2007 |
|
Bolivia | Department La Paz, province S. Yungas | Basin of Rio Bopi, San Bartolome (near Calisaya) | 750 - 900 | no data |
July 1-22 1939 | Krukoff 10381 (F, MO, US) | Jan 2007 |
Figure 5. Corolla Margin Trichomes (fresh tissue stained for 5 to 15 min in neutral red, photo by T. Mione) |
Figure 6. The ruler (resting on the pot) is one foot long. Note the ripe fruit (red) towards the base of the plant. |