The Morelloid clade of Solanum L. (Solanaceae) in Argentina: nomenclatural changes, three new species and an updated key to all taxa

Abstract

Since the publication of the Solanaceae treatment in “Flora Argentina” in 2013 exploration in the country and resolution of outstanding nomenclatural and circumscription issues has resulted in a number of changes to the species of the Morelloid clade of Solanum L. (Solanaceae) for Argentina. Here we describe three new species: Solanum hunzikeri Chiarini & Cantero, sp. nov., from wet high elevation areas in Argentina (Catamarca, Salta and Tucumán) and Bolivia (Chuquisaca and Tarija), S. marmoratum Barboza & S. Knapp, sp. nov., from central Argentina in Catamarca, La Pampa, La Rioja, San Juan and San Luis, and S. tiinae Barboza & S. Knapp, sp. nov., from the mountains of Jujuy, La Rioja, Salta and Tucumán. We provide descriptions, illustrations and distribution maps for all new taxa. A table of nomenclatural changes and additional taxa now known to occur in Argentina summarizes additions and changes since the “Flora Argentina”. We also provide an updated key, including all new taxa for the country, to facilitate identification and further exploration.

Monograph of wild and cultivated chili peppers (Capsicum L., Solanaceae)

“…Preliminary conservation status was assessed using IUCN (2022) criteria B (for the relatively widespread species) and C (for some species with very restricted occurrences). We have given more weight to the extent of occurrence ( EOO ) in the threat assessments than to the area of occupancy ( AOO ), since the EOO is very sensitive to georeferencing bias and collecting effort ( Knapp et al 2020 ). The extent of occurrence and area of occupancy were calculated using the Geospatial Conservation Assessment Tool GeoCAT ( Bachman et al 2011 ; GeoCAT 2020 ).…”

Diversity and Conservation Gap Analysis of the Solanaceae of Southern South America

“…Specific status based on recent studies and reports published after April 2019 (not included in Palchetti et al, 2020 ) has been considered. This included studies, such as the revision of the genus Schizanthus ( Morales-Fierro et al, 2020 ; Lavandero et al, 2021 ); updates in Nolana ( Hepp and Dillon, 2018 ); the Morelloid clade of Solanum in Argentina ( Knapp et al, 2020 ); cryptic species recently reported ( Moreira-Muñoz and Muñoz-Schick, 2020 ); and new Petunia and Nicotiana species ( Greppi et al, 2019 ; Santilli et al, 2021 ). After a first cleaning, data from ex situ living collections that introduced species, hybrid taxa, and records with doubtful or incomplete identification at the species level were excluded.…”

A revision of the South American species of the Morelloid clade (Solanum L., Solanaceae)

“…The Morelloid clade has been considered difficult, mainly due to the black nightshades (sensu Särkinen et al 2015b ) that comprise many widespread and morphologically variable species, polyploids and many associated names at many taxonomic levels ( Särkinen et al 2015b , 2018 ; Knapp et al 2019 ). Although Edmonds (1972) considered the morelloids to be a species-poor group, our globally focused work with these plants has revealed significant novelty for South America (e.g., Särkinen et al 2015c , d ; Särkinen and Knapp 2016 ; Knapp and Särkinen 2018 ; Knapp et al 2020 ) as well as significant synonymy, especially for widespread, weedy and cultivated species (e.g., Särkinen et al 2018 ; Knapp et al 2019 , 2020 ).…”