IMBIV   05474
INSTITUTO MULTIDISCIPLINARIO DE BIOLOGIA VEGETAL
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Untangling the taxonomy of African supervegetables (Solanum L., Solanaceae)
Autor/es:
BARBOZA G. E.; MANOKO, M.L.K.; POCZAI, P.; BADEN, H.M.; SARKINEN, T.; VAN DER WEERDEN, G.M.; KNAPP, S.
Lugar:
Kew
Reunión:
Simposio; State of the World's Plants Symposium 2017; 2017
Institución organizadora:
Royal Botanic Garden, Kew
Resumen:
Solanum L. (Solanaceae) is a mega-diverse genus of more than 1200 species with worldwide distribution and is comprised of 13 major clades. One of these, the Morelloid clade (the Black Nightshades), has a worldwide distribution with diversity centred in the Old World, where in Africa, many species are important local crops that are experiencing a resurgence in popularity and interest. The taxonomy of the Morelloid clade has long been confused, in part due to polyploidy, but also due to the great variation in morphology due to human selection of genotypes for cultivation, particularly in Africa. There, these species were often collected by early 20th century botanists as ?weeds of cultivation?, and not recognised as cultivated plants. Of the ca. 75 species in the clade, the majority are distributed in the New World, but 19 are found in the Old World, 10 of which are native to Africa and Madagascar. All of the African species are polyploid and share parental species; they are all members of a monophyletic group within the larger Morelloid clade, with a recent origin. Five species of Morelloids are cultivated in Africa for their fruits and/or their leaves, which are used as spinach and are high in protein and iron. Solanum scabrum Mill. is the most commonly cultivated across Africa, and wild populations have consistently been confused with the North African and European species Solanum nigrum L. Here we present the newly revised taxonomy of the African species, with discussion of their potential for the future.