 Line drawing by W.A.Smith of Solanum stenopterum in Austrobaileya 6: 735, fig. 28 (2004). |
 Distribution map generated from Australia's Virtual Herbarium. |
Synonymy
Solanum stenopterum A.R.Bean, Austrobaileya 6: 734 (2004).
T: Qld,
Solanum sp. (Dalby R.F.Kelsey 56), Henderson, Names Distrib Qld Plants (2002).
S. lacunarium auct. non F.Muell.; Symon, J.
Description
Sprawling or erect, herbaceous resprouter, 0.2-0.4 m high. Juvenile stage absent. Adult branchlets green; prickles 7-15 per decimetre, straight, acicular, 2-8 mm long, 10-15 times longer than wide; stellae sparse, 0.4-1.2 mm diameter, sessile; lateral rays 4-8, porrect; central ray 0.7-1.4 times as long as laterals, not gland-tipped; finger hairs absent; Type 2 hairs absent.
Adult leaves linear to ovate, entire or shallowly to deeply lobed throughout; lobes 2 or 3 on each side, acute or obtuse, lobing index 1-5; lamina 4-7 cm long, 0.5-2.6 cm wide, 2.2-12 times longer than broad, apex acute, base cuneate, oblique part 0-3 mm long, obliqueness index 0-5 percent; petioles 0.5-1.3 cm long, 10-18% length of lamina, winged, prickles absent. Upper leaf surface green; prickles 3-15, straight, acicular, 1-4 mm long, prickles present on mid-vein only or present on mid-vein and lateral veins; stellate hairs confined to midrib, or distributed throughout; protostellae absent; ordinary stellae very sparse to moderate density, 0.8-2.5 mm apart, 0.3-1.1 mm across, sessile; lateral rays 3-5, porrect; central ray 1-3 times as long as laterals, not gland-tipped; finger hairs absent or present, 1-3 mm apart, not gland-tipped, 0.6-1.2 mm long; Type 2 hairs absent. Lower leaf surface green; prickles 1-15, straight, acicular, present on mid-vein only or present on mid-vein and lateral veins; stellae very sparse to moderate, 0.8-3 mm apart, 0.5-1 mm diameter, sessile; lateral rays 4-7, porrect; central ray 1-2 times as long as laterals, not gland-tipped; finger hairs absent; Type 2 hairs absent.
Inflorescence leaf-opposed, solitary or pseudo-umbellate, common peduncle absent; 1 or 2-flowered, strongly or weakly andromonoecious, flowers 5-merous; pedicels 21-38 mm long at anthesis, same thickness throughout, 0.5-0.7 mm thick at midpoint, prickles absent or present. Calyx tube 2-3 mm long, lobes deltate, 1.5-2.5 mm long; prickles present at anthesis, 5-40 per flower, 1-4 mm long; stellae sparse to dense, transparent, 0.3-0.6 mm across, sessile, lateral rays 2-6, central ray 1-3 times as long as laterals, not gland-tipped; finger hairs absent; Type 2 hairs absent. Corolla purple, 14-18 mm long, shallowly lobed, inner surface glabrous; anthers 3.5-5 mm long; ovary with Type 2 hairs only; functional style 7.5-8.5 mm long, erect, glabrous or with Type 2 hairs only.
Fruiting calyx with lobes more than half length of mature fruit, prickles 2-4 mm long. Mature fruits 1 per inflorescence, globular, c. 10 mm diameter; pedicels 21-38 mm long in fruit, c. 1.5 mm thick at mid-point.
Bean's description of S. stenopterum reproduced, with permission, from Austrobaileya 6: 734 (2004).
Another Bean description of this species can be seen on the web at http://delta-intkey.com/solanum/www/stenopte.htm
Distribution and ecology
Photographs of S. stelligerum with some background information on its occurrence in the rainforest of the
Found in the Gayndah-Moonie-Glenmorgan area of SE Qld and represented in
Flowers October to March; fruits recorded in March.
Relationships
Part of the S. hystrix group of subgen. Leptostemonum (Bean 2004). Most closely related to the widespread S. lacunarium.
The two species differ in
- the density of the stellate hairs on the lower leaf surface (much less dense in S. stenopterum),
- sparser and longer prickles of S. stenopterum,
- the 1-2-flowered inflorescence lacking a peduncle compared with the 5-7 flowered inflorescence of S. lacunarium above a 26-46 mm long flowerless peduncle.
Notes
Fruits are not well documented for this species. It has been observed by I. Menkins (noted in Bean 2004) that they are rarely set and this has been postulated to be because the style extends much further past the anthers than in most other species of Solanum. this can be seen in photographs of the flower on the Delta-intkey site and the Solanaceae Source site referred to under From the Web. Further observations of its biology are needed.
Derivation of epithet
From the Greek stenos, narrow, and pteron, wing, a reference to the extension of the leaf lamina to give a winged petiole.
Selected specimens
QLD: BURNETT DISTRICT: c. 64 miles [103 km] WSW of Gayndah, Oct 1969, McPherson (BRI). DARLING DOWNS DISTRICT: c. 5 km SW of Dalby, Mar 1958, Kelsey 56 (BRI); Condamine River, 4–5 miles [6–8 km] S of Dalby, Sep 1958, Kelsey 64 (BRI); ‘Burradoo’, 50 km NE of Goondiwindi, Mar 1979, Lahey (BRI); Myall Park, Glenmorgan, Dec 1984, Gordon 8887 (AD, BRI, CANB); 6 km SE of Cecil Plains, Feb 1995, Fensham 2012 (BRI); Warrego Highway, c. 7 km W of Jackson, Jan 2000, McDonald KRM262 (BRI); SE corner of Oakey Army Airfield, Dec 2001, Menkins ILM76 (BRI); 4 km E of Cecil Plains, Jan 2002, Franzmann 66 (BRI).
Specimens cited by Bean (2004).
Plant status, if any
This species (as Solanum sp. (Dalby R.F.Kelsey 56)) is listed as Vulnerable under the
From the web
An image of S. stenopterum can be seen in Bean's treatment of this species at http://delta-intkey.com/solanum/www/stenopte.htm
Further information on this species in NSW can be seen on the PlantNET site.
Further information, including a photograph of the flower, and links for this species can be found on the Solanaceae Source site.