Solanum ramonense
In primary forest in montane Costa Rica and western Panama from 600-2000 m.
Solanum ramonense is a member of the Solanum arboreum species group (Knapp, 2002) of the Geminata clade (Bohs, 2005).
Knapp, S. 1986. Reproductive biology of Solanum section Geminata in a Costa Rican cloud forest.
Pp. 253-263 in Solanaceae: biology and systematics, ed. W. G. D’Arcy. New York: Columbia University Press.
Knapp, S. & T. Helgason 1997. A revision of Solanum section Pteroidea Dunal: Solanaceae.
Bull. Nat. Hist. Mus. London, Bot. 27: 31-73.
Knapp, S. 2002. Solanum section Geminata (G. Don) Walpers (Solanaceae).
Flora Neotropica 84: 1-405.
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 ramonense is very similar vegetatively to S. roblense, also of montane Costa Rica, but is easily distinguished from that species by its minute flowers, triangular calyx lobes, and large fruits on rather stocky pedicels. Solanum ramonense is most closely related to S. arboreum of lowland Central and northern South America, with glabrous leaves, congested pedicel scars, and berries borne on erect pedicels.
The ripe fruit when split open smells strongly of wintergreen, a trait observed for other deep forest solanums (Knapp & Helgason, 1997). This suggests an animal dispersal agent, but none have been observed. Fruits of Solanum ramonense have been found on the forest floor with the seeds germinating inside (pers. obs.). The fruits have very few seeds, and the seeds are quite large. Solanum ramonense blooms in the late wet season and early dry season (Knapp, 1986a), an unusual flowering time for shrubs in the Costa Rica cloud forest. Most other species of section Geminata at Monteverde bloom at the end of the dry season and the beginning of the wet season.