Solanum laxum Spreng.

Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. http://catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co

Distribution

Cultivada en Colombia; Alt. 850 - 2800 m.; Andes.

Morphology General Habit

Trepadora

Solanaceae, Jennifer M Edmonds. Oliganthes, Melongena & Monodolichopus, Maria S. Vorontsova & Sandra Knapp. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 2012

Type

Type: Uruguay, Montevideo, Sellow s.n. (?B†, holo.)

Morphology General Habit

Herbaceous evergreen climber to 5 m high, often rooting by runners;

Morphology Stem

Stems slender, sparsely pilose with short simple eglandular hairs, denser on young stems and around nodal areas, usually mixed with glands, glabrescent on older parts

Morphology Leaves

Leaves alternate, sometimes coriaceous, dark green, ovate to hastate, 1.5–5.4(–6) × (0.6–)1.4–2.8 cm, bases cordate to truncate, simple to compound - often differing according to stem position, young leaves often deeply divided but some leaves unlobed, margins usually entire with pair of basal lanceolate lobes, apices acute; venation prominent, surfaces glabrescent with sparse short hairs and stalked glands on veins and midribs, denser on lower surfaces with prominent hairy domatia in axils of lowermost veins and midribs; petioles (0.4–)1–2.6 cm, curved to help climbing or twining

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescences forked, terminal or axillary lax panicles or cymes, up to 20-flowered; flowers fragrant; peduncles erect, 1–2.5 cm long in flower, to 2.7 cm long in fruit, sparsely pilose with stalked glands to glabrous; pedicels nodding and 6–16 mm long in flower, sparsely pilose to glabrous but often with dense stalked glands, spreading and 14–17 mm long in fruit, articulated basally

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx

Calyx cupulate/campanulate, 1.5–2.5 mm long; lobes broadly ovate to broadly triangular, 0.5–0.8 × 1.5–1.8 mm, acute/obtuse to apiculate, often with tufted pilose apices and a ciliate fringe to margins; persistent and 1.4–1.5 × 1.5–1.8 mm in fruit

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla

Corolla white or tinged blue, rotate-stellate, 2.4–2.8 cm diameter, tube 1–1.2 mm long; lobes boat-shaped, 6–9 × 4–6 mm basally, with upturned apices and prominent venation, spreading after anthesis, with densely pilose margins and apical tufts externally. Stamens equal; filaments 1–1.8 mm long, glabrous but sometimes with stalked glands; anthers yellow to brownish, 3–4.5 × 0.8–1.2 mm, connivent

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary

Ovary 1.5–2 × 1–1.2 mm, glabrous; style straight, 6.5–8 × 0.3–0.4 mm basally, densely pilose with short hairs in lower part, exserted up to 3 mm; stigma clavate, 0.3–0.6 mm diameter, sometimes clasping the style

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit borne erect on spreading pedicels, bluish, purple or blackish (also recorded as red in Australia), globose, 7–10 mm diameter, smooth, surrounded basally by adherent calyx lobes

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds 10–32/berry, light to dark brown, ovoid, discoidal or orbicular, 2.6–3.2 × 2–2.8 mm, reticulate; sclerotic granules absent.

Ecology

Ornamental climber often cultivated in gardens and parks, found as escape in forests; 1600–2650 m

Note

Darwin (1867, pages 41–43) used “ S. jasminoides” as an example of a true leaf climber in his paper “On the movement and habits of Climbing Plants”; he illustrated the tendril-like petioles, and experimented on both the time taken for the petioles to clasp sticks or stems and the effect of weights on their revolution. According to Friis (2006) “ S. jasminoides” superficially resembles the indigenous forest climber S. bendirianum Dammer, but can easily be distinguished by the often coiling petioles, the usually hastate or truncate leaf-bases, and the tufts of hairs in the axils of the primary veins. The synonymy of S. boerhaviifolium (originally spelt with one a by Sendtner but with two aa’s by later authors including Dunal (1852), Kuntze (1898) and Morton (1976)) is based on Sendtner’s protologue and his plate which shows many features typical of “ S. jasminoides”, including the characteristic leaf shape with curved petioles, together with the typical inflorescence and floral morphology. Most of the specimens identified as S. boerhaviifolium from Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina also show these typical features, but some of those from Brazil are atypical with more ovate to rotund coriaceous leaves, without the curved petioles and dense domatia and sometimes with a dense long-haired pubescence. These might simply be indicative of an infraspecific variant, but clearly necessitate more analysis. Few synonyms of S. laxum have been included in this account, as this taxon is usually referred to as S. jasminoides in African literature. It is commonly known as the Potato Vine or -Climber and the Jasmine Nightshade. Several varieties and cultivars of “ S. jasminoides” have been recognised such as the white flowered var. album; the more floriferous var. floribundum; the larger and more robust inflorescenced var. grandiflorum and the white speckled leaved var. variegatum (fide Hepper, 1998).  Sendtner’s plate of the synonymous S. boerhaviifolium illustrates infructescences whereas no fruiting material has been encountered in the herbarium. Fruiting is also apparently rare in cultivated material. The fruiting measurements given above have been taken from specimens of the synonymous S. boerhaviifolium. Morton (1976) considered this a distinct species in Argentina, but apart from citing minutely pilose filaments and probable red berries, his distinguishing features are difficult to discern. Kuntze (1898) subdivided Paxton’s S. jasminoides into a several varieties and forms – all apparently from Bolivia. Morton (1976) synonymised some of these under S. boerhaviifolium var . boerhaviifolium whilst also describing a new variety var. calvum Morton, simultaneously mentioning that this might be conspecific with S. jasminoides Pax. var. boerhaviifolium. The latter is the only one of Kuntze’s varieties to been included here, and it is unclear if these variants occur naturally in Bolivia or were introduced – as were cultivated specimens seen from Colombia.

Distribution

Range: Now widely cultivated in warm temperate and some tropical mountain regions, including Egypt, Ethiopia, South Africa, India, Australia where sparingly naturalised Flora districts: K3 K4 T3 Range: Native of Brazil and Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation

Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident

Bernal, R., G. Galeano, A. Rodríguez, H. Sarmiento y M. Gutiérrez. 2017. Nombres Comunes de las Plantas de Colombia. http://www.biovirtual.unal.edu.co/nombrescomunes/

Vernacular

buqué de novia, manto de la Virgen, manto de María, manto de novia, ponqué, velo de novia