New functionally dioecious bush tomato from northwestern Australia, Solanum ossicruentum, may utilize “trample burr” dispersal

By

Martine, Christopher T.
Cantley, Jason
Frawley, Emma
Butler, Alice
Jordon-Thaden, Ingrid

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2016

Original Publication

PhytoKeys

Volume

63

Pages

19-29

Subjects

Bush tomato , cryptic dioecy , inaperturate pollen , Keep River National Park , Kimberley , Mirima National Park , new species , Northern Territory , Solanum , Solanum dioicum , Solanum sp. Tanami , undergraduate research , Western Australia

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers [2010]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.63.7743

 

Abstract

A new Australian species of functionally dioecious bush tomato of Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum is described. Solanum ossicruentum Martine & J.Cantley, sp. nov., is thought to be allied with members of the problematic “Dioicum Complex” lineage, but differs in its short silvery indumentum, long calyx lobes, larger stature, and an unusual fruit morphology that may represent “trample burr” seed dispersal. The species occurs in a range extending from the eastern Kimberley in Western Australia to far northwestern Northern Territory and has been recognized for decades as a variant of S. dioicum W.Fitzg. Specimens of this species were previously referred to by D.E. Symon and others as Solanum dioicum ‘Tanami.’ Ex situ crossing studies and SEM images of inaperturate pollen grains produced in morphologically hermaphrodite flowers indicate that this taxon is functionally dioecious. The scientific name was chosen with the help of 150 seventh grade life science students from Pennsylvania, USA.