A revision of the “African Non-Spiny” Clade of Solanum L. (Solanum sections Afrosolanum Bitter, Benderianum Bitter, Lemurisolanum Bitter, Lyciosolanum Bitter, Macronesiotes Bitter, and Quadrangulare Bitter: Solanaceae)

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Abstract

The African Non-Spiny (ANS) clade contains 14 species of mostly large canopy lianas or scandent shrubs confined to Madagascar (10) and continental Africa (4, with with one species reaching the southern Arabian peninsula). Members of the clade were previously classified in sections Afrosolanum Bitter, Benderianum Bitter, Lemurisolanum Bitter, Macronesiotes Bitter and Quadrangulare Bitter, and were throught to be related to a variety of New World groups. The group is an early-branching lineage of non-spiny solanums and characters shared with other vining New World solanums are homoplastic. The 14 species of the group occupy a wide range of habitats, from wet forests in western Africa to savanna and dry forests of southern Madagascar and dune habitats in South Africa. Many members of the group are highly variable morphologically, and habit can vary between shrub and canopy vine in a single locality. We here review the taxonomic history, morphology, potential relationships and ecology of these species; we provide keys for their identification, descriptions, full synonymy (including designations of lectotypes and neotypes) and nomenclatural notes. Illustrations, distribution maps and preliminary conservation assessments are provided for all species.

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A phylogenetic framework for evolutionary study of the nightshades (Solanaceae): a dated 1000-tip tree

Tiina Särkinen, Lynn Bohs, Richard G Olmstead … (2013)

Background The Solanaceae is a plant family of great economic importance. Despite a wealth of phylogenetic work on individual clades and a deep knowledge of particular cultivated species such as tomato and potato, a robust evolutionary framework with a dated molecular phylogeny for the family is still lacking. Here we investigate molecular divergence times for Solanaceae using a densely-sampled species-level phylogeny. We also review the fossil record of the family to derive robust calibration points, and estimate a chronogram using an uncorrelated relaxed molecular clock. Results Our densely-sampled phylogeny shows strong support for all previously identified clades of Solanaceae and strongly supported relationships between the major clades, particularly within Solanum. The Tomato clade is shown to be sister to section Petota, and the Regmandra clade is the first branching member of the Potato clade. The minimum age estimates for major splits within the family provided here correspond well with results from previous studies, indicating splits between tomato & potato around 8 Million years ago (Ma) with a 95% highest posterior density (HPD) 7–10 Ma, Solanum & Capsicum c. 19 Ma (95% HPD 17–21), and Solanum & Nicotiana c. 24 Ma (95% HPD 23–26). Conclusions Our large time-calibrated phylogeny provides a significant step towards completing a fully sampled species-level phylogeny for Solanaceae, and provides age estimates for the whole family. The chronogram now includes 40% of known species and all but two monotypic genera, and is one of the best sampled angiosperm family phylogenies both in terms of taxon sampling and resolution published thus far. The increased resolution in the chronogram combined with the large increase in species sampling will provide much needed data for the examination of many biological questions using Solanaceae as a model system.

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A species definition for the modern synthesis.

James Mallet (1995)

One hundred and thirty-six years since On the Origin of Species 3., biologists might be expected to have an accepted theory of speciation. Instead, there is, if anything, more disagreement about speciation than ever before. Even more surprisingly, 60 years after the biological species concept, in which species were considered to be reproductive communities isolated from other such communities, we still do not all accept a common definition of what a species is. And yet, if speciation is to be any different from ordinary evolution, we must have a clear definition of species. The emerging solution to the species problem is an updated, genetic version of Darwin's own definition. This definition is useful and is already being used in taxonomy, in biodiversity studies and in evolution.