ARS | Publication request: REVISION OF SOLANUM SECT. ETUBEROSUM (SUBGENUS POTATOE)

Submitted to: Solanaceae International Congress Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: March 6, 1995
Publication Date: N/A

Interpretive Summary: A taxonomic revision is a study that examines what is a species, what are the proper names to give to those species based on standardized rules, how these species are related, and where they occur geographically and in what habitats. Our revision examines a group of wild potato relatives, classified scientifically in the genus Solanum, sect. Etuberosum. These plants grow in southern Argentina and southern Chile. Our revision is based on an examination of the form of the plant from herbarium specimens, from collections made in Argentina and Chile, and from later growth of these collections in common field plots. We discovered that there are only three species, where previously there were thought to be five species.

Technical Abstract: Solanum section Etuberosum contains morphologically very similar diploid (2n=2X=24), self-compatible species, distributed in the Juan Fernandez Islands and adjacent mainland Chile and Argentina, from 40 m to 2500 m. This study is based on comparative morphological studies of field collections from throughout the range of the section, study of later plantings of our collections in field plots, and other herbarium material including all types. We recognize S. etuberosum, S. fernandezianum, and S. palustre.