ARS | Publication request: Taxonomic Treatment of Solanum Section Petota (Wild Potatoes) in Catálogo de Plantas Vasculares del Cono Sur (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, y sur del Brasil)

Submitted to: Systematic Botany Monographs
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: September 15, 2008
Publication Date: January 15, 2009
Citation: Spooner, D.M., Clausen, A., Peralta, I. 2009. Taxonomic Treatment of Solanum Section Petota (Wild Potatoes) in Catálogo de Plantas Vasculares del Cono Sur (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, y sur del Brasil). Systematic Botany Monographs. 107:3011-3053.

Interpretive Summary: Wild potatoes are technically classified in the genus Solanum, containing some 1500 species widely distributed worldwide, but with a concentration of diversity in Latin America and Australia. Wild potatoes include only part of this large genus, with some 150 species confined to the Americas from the southwestern United States to central Chile. This paper lists the wild potatoes from the southern part of this distribution area, in the “Southern Cone” of South America that includes all of Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and the southern part of Brazil. This paper lists all 23 of the wild potato species from the Southern Cone, cites their original descriptions, lists other species that have been described but are really the same (synonyms), cites a specimen we have seen, and has brief descriptions of their habitats. This catalog serves to quantify the biodiversity of this region by providing our best judgment of the true number of species there. This new taxonomic treatment is of use to users of potato germplasm as it provides a more modern and up to date assessment of taxonomic limits and names of these accessions of use to potato breeders, geneticists, biogeographers, and all other users of the germplasm.

Technical Abstract: Solanum section Petota (Solanaceae), which includes the cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum) and its wild relatives, contains over 150 wild species distributed from the southwestern U.S.A. (38°N) to central Argentina and adjacent Chile (41°S). This catalog includes all species from the Southern Cone of South America (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and the southern part of Brazil); the populations include diploids (2n = 2x = 24; some mixed with triploids, 2n = 3x = 36), tetraploids (2n = 4x = 48), and hexaploids (2n = 6x = 72). Twenty-three species are recognized; not treated are three nothospecies. This checklist contains a list of all of these species, citations of their descriptions, synonyms, a representative specimen, and brief habitat descriptions. This catalog serves to quantify the biodiversity of this region by providing our best judgment of the true number of species there.