14. Jaltomata Schlechtendal, Index Seminum (Halle). 1838: 8. 1838.
[Possibly Jaltomate, name of a small pueblo in Zacatecas, Mexico]
Thomas Mione
Herbs, perennial, [shrubs], glabrous [densely pubescent], roots tuberous [lacking expanded root]. Stems erect to procumbent, branched. Leaves alternate. Inflorescences axillary, umbellate. Flowers 5-merous; calyx rotate, stellate, deeply incised, lobes accrescent, triangular [narrowly triangular or obtuse], flaring, planar, or reflexed [bowl-shaped] in fruit; corolla pale green [green, whitish, bluish, blue-purple, purple, sometimes red at base], radial, rotate, 5-lobed or lobes alternating with lobules and then totaling 10 [crateriform, broadly campanulate, tubular, urceolate]; stamens inserted at base of corolla tube, equal; anthers ventrifixed [basifixed], ovate [lanceolate], dehiscing by longitudinal slits; ovary 2-carpellate; style slender; stigma capitate [truncate, style narrowing from thicker base]. Fruits berries, subspheric, juicy. Seeds ovate to reniform. x = 12.
Species ca. 60 (1 in the flora): Arizona, Mexico, West Indies (Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico), Central America, South America.
SELECTED REFERENCE Mione, T. 1992. Systematics and Evolution of Jaltomata (Solanaceae). Ph.D. dissertation. University of Connecticut.
