ARS | Publication request: PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION OF WILD POTATOES (SOLANUM SECT. PETOTA)

Submitted to: Solanaceae International Congress Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: May 25, 2006
Publication Date: August 2, 2006
Citation: Salas, A., Alvarez, N., Ames, M., Blancas, M., Fajardo, D., Juarez, H., Peralta, I., Roca, W., Rojas, E., Simon, R., Vargas, M., Vivanco, K., Spooner, D.M. 2006. Photographic documentation of wild potatoes (solanum sect. petota)[abstract]. Solanaceae International Congress Proceedings. p. 394.

Technical Abstract: Wild potato (Solanum sect. Petota) taxonomy is very difficult. Many of the species are very similar, interspecific hybridization is common, and allopolyploidy (at both the tetraploid, pentaploid and hexaploid levels) maintains hybrids containing sometimes disparate genomes. Section Petota was last monographed in its entirety by Hawkes in 1990, but this contained no illustrations. Subsequent regional treatments for North and Central America, Peru, and Bolivia contained illustrations, but often as line drawings. We are compiling high-resolution color photographs of leaves, flowers, fruits, and habitats of most of the 187 species we currently recognize, in some cases with more than one photograph to document interspecific variation. These photographs have been taken from collecting expeditions and during field studies of germplasm accessions planted in common gardens. They form a valuable compliment to a recent distributional and ecological atlas of wild potatoes. We will present examples of these photographs in poster form during this conference, and they will be published on-line and in book form by the International Potato Center.