Solanum celsum
Not known
This species is known from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica in the Cordillera de Talamanca, the Reserva Carara, and the Osa Peninsula. It has been collected in edges and understory of primary and secondary wet forest at 0-1700 m in elevation. It is probably also found in neighboring parts of Panama.
Solanum celsum is a member of the Brevantherum clade sensu Bohs (2005). Its phylogenetic position within that clade has not been investigated using molecular data.
Bohs, L. 2005. Major clades in Solanum based on ndhF sequences.
Pp. 27-49 in R. C. Keating, V. C. Hollowell, & T. B. Croat (eds.), A festschrift for William G. D’Arcy: the legacy of a taxonomist. Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 104. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis.
Solanum celsum has been considered a synonym of S. lepidotum, but the two entities appear to show some differences. The trichomes of S. celsum are intermediate between stellate hairs and peltate scales, with the central fused part of the lateral rays smaller than in S. lepidotum. Pubescence of the leaf undersides is sparser in S. celsum than in S. lepidotum so that that the mesophyll is visible between the hairs. Unlike S. lepidotum and S. schlechtendalianum, the leaf surfaces of S. celsum are not strongly discolorous (green adaxially and white abaxially).
In Costa Rica, S. celsum is found primarily on the Pacific slope in the southern part of the country, whereas S. lepidotum is restricted to the Cordilleras of Guanacaste and Tilarán.