''Cyphomandra'' was a formerly accepted

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

in the plant family Solanaceae (the nightshades and relative). It used to contain about 35

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

native to the Americas from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

southwards to Northern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Recent authors have treated ''Cyphomandra'' as a clade within the genus ''

Solanum ''Solanum'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, which include three food crops of high economic importance: the potato, the tomato and the eggplant (aubergine, brinjal). It is the largest genus in the nightshade family Solanaceae ...

'' rather than as a separate genus, uniting the members of the old genus with some other ''Solanum''. This lineage is one among a group related to part of the traditional subgenus ''Leptostemonum''. Thus, if it is preferred to retain the

taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

, ''Cyphomandra'' is probably best considered a

section Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

in ''Solanum'' subgenus ''Leptostemonum''. Most grow as shrubs or small trees 2 or 3 metres in height. The best known species is the widely cultivated

Tamarillo The tamarillo (''Solanum betaceum'') is a small tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Solanaceae (the nightshade family). It is best known as the species that bears the tamarillo, an egg-shaped edible fruit. It is also known as the tree ...

or tree tomato, but a number of the others are also cultivated as garden plants because of their attractive flowers or fruits. Several other species (e.g. '' S. cajanumense, S. circinatum, S. sibundoyense'') also have fruits that are edible when ripe, and yet others are used as dyestuffs or in

folk medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

where they are native.

Species

Species contained in the ''Cyphomandra'' clade, with their former specific epithets cited if they have significantly changed when moving to ''Solanum'', are:Solanaceae Source 008/ref> * '' Solanum allophyllum'' (Miers) Standl. * '' Solanum amotapense'' Svenson (= ''Cyphomandra villosa'' Steyerm.) * '' Solanum betaceum'' –

(= ''Cyphomandra crassicaulis''(?), ''C. crassifolia'' (Ortega) J.F.Macbr., ''C. crassifolia'' (Ortega) Kuntze, ''C. procera'' Wawra) * '' Solanum cacosmum'' Bohs (''Cyphomandra foetida'' Bohs) * ''

Solanum cajanumense ''Solanum cajanumense'' (also known as ''casana'') is a species of plant in the family Solanaceae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Intolerant of heat, frost, or direct sunlight, ''Solanum cajanumense'' seems to prefer cloud forest-typ ...

'' (= ''Cyphomandra casana'' A.Child) * '' Solanum calidum'' Bohs (= ''Cyphomandra pilosa'' Bohs) * '' Solanum circinatum'' Bohs (= ''Cyphomandra artocarpophylla'' H.J.P.Winkl., ''C. costaricencis'' Donn.Sm., ''C. dendroidea'' Pittier, ''C. dolichorhachis'' Bitter, ''C. hartwegii'' (Miers) Walp., ''C. hartwegii'' ssp. ''ramosa'' Bohs, ''C. heterophylla'' Donn.Sm., ''C. holtonii'' Hochr., ''C. kalbreyeri'' Bitter, ''C. mollicella'' Standl., ''C. naranjilla'' Pittier, ''C. splendens'' Dunal in DC.) * '' Solanum confusum'' C.V.Morton (= ''Cyphomandra adelpha'' (C.V.Morton) A.Child) * '' Solanum corymbiflorum'' (Sendtn.) Bohs (= ''Cyphomandra kleinii'' L.B.Sm. & Downs, ''C. macrophylla'' L.B.Sm. & Downs, ''C. mortoniana'' L.B.Sm. & Down, ''C. patrum'' L.B.Sm. & Downs) * '' Solanum cylindricum'' Vell. (= ''Cyphomandra elliptica'' (Vell.) Sendtn. in Mart., ''C. subhastata'' (L.B.Sm. & Downs) A.Child) * '' Solanum diploconos'' (Mart.) Bohs (= ''Cyphomandra floribunda'' (Miers) Dunal in DC., ''C. fragrans'' (Hook.) Sendtn. in Mart., ''C. piperoides'' Dunal in DC.) * '' Solanum diversifolium'' Dunal (= ''Cyphomandra campanulata'' Moritz ex Steyerm. & Huber, ''C. caracasana'' (Roem. & Schult.) Sendtn., ''C. caudata'' Standl., ''C. chlorantha'' Rusby, ''C. meridensis'' Steyerm. & Rojas) * '' Solanum endopogon'' (Bitter) Bohs * ''

Solanum exiguum ''Solanum exiguum'' is a species of plant in the family Solanaceae. It is endemic to Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bo ...

'' (= ''Cyphomandra benensis'' Britton) * '' Solanum fallax'' (= ''Cyphomandra betacea'' var. ''velutina'' Dunal in DC., ''C. hypomalaca'' Bitter) * '' Solanum fortunense'' (= ''Cyphomandra dolichocarpa'' Bitter) * '' Solanum fusiforme'' L.B.Sm. & Downs * '' Solanum glaucophyllum'' Desf. * '' Solanum hibernum'' Bohs * '' Solanum hutchisonii'' (J.F.Macbr.) Bohs * '' Solanum latiflorum'' (= ''Cyphomandra calycina'' Sendtn., ''C. calycina'' var. ''rufescens'' Dunal in DC.) * '' Solanum luridifuscescens'' Bitter (= ''Cyphomandra glaberrima'' Dusén, ''C. velutina'' Sendtn. in Mart.) * ''

Solanum luteoalbum ''Solanum luteoalbum'' is a species of plant in the family Solanaceae. ''Solanum semicoalitum'' as described by Bitter is an invalid name for this plant that is sometimes still seen. Altogether, the following synonyms are assigned to this specie ...

'' * '' Solanum mapiriense'' Bitter (= ''Cyphomandra phytolaccoides'' (Rusby) A.Child) * '' Solanum maranguapense'' Bitter * '' Solanum matadori'' Smith & Downs * '' Solanum maternum'' Bohs * '' Solanum melissarum'' (= ''Cyphomandra capsicoides'' (Miers) Walp., ''C. ciliata'' (Miers) Walp., ''C. divaricata'' (Mart.) Sendtn., ''C. divaricata'' var. ''flexipes'' Sendtn. in Mart., ''C. divaricata'' var. ''herbacea'' Sendtn. in Mart., ''C. laxiflora'' Dunal in DC., ''C. oxyphylla'' Dunal in DC.) * '' Solanum morellifolium'' Bohs * '' Solanum obliquum'' Ruiz & Pav. (= ''Cyphomandra brachypodia'' Sendtn., ''C. coriacea'' (Miers) Walp., ''C. obliqua'' (Ruiz & Pav.) Sendtn., ''C. ulei'' Bitter) * '' Solanum occultum'' Bohs (= ''Cyphomandra stellata'' Bohs) * '' Solanum ovum-fringillae'' * '' Solanum oxyphyllum'' C.V.Morton (= ''Cyphomandra fragilis'' Bohs) * '' Solanum paralum'' (= ''Cyphomandra heterophylla'' Taub.) * '' Solanum pelagicum'' Bohs (= ''Cyphomandra cornigera'' Dunal in DC., ''C. maritima'' L.B.Sm. & Downs) * '' Solanum pendulum'' Ruiz & Pav. (= ''Cyphomandra arborea'' H.J.P.Winkl., ''C. subcordata'' Rusby) * '' Solanum pinetorum'' (= ''Cyphomandra angustifolia'' L.B.Sm. & Downs, ''C. hispida'' L.B.Sm. & Downs) * '' Solanum premnifolium'' (Miers) Bohs * '' Solanum proteanthum'' Bohs (= ''Cyphomandra oblongifolia'' Bohs) * '' Solanum rojasianum'' (Standl. & Steyerm.) Bohs * ''

Solanum roseum ''Solanum roseum'' is a species of plant in the family Solanaceae. It is endemic to Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to ...

'' (= ''Cyphomandra acuminata'' Rusby) * '' Solanum sciadostylis'' (Sendtn.) Bohs (= ''Cyphomandra reitzii'' L.B.Sm. & Downs) * '' Solanum sibundoyense'' * '' Solanum stuckertii'' Bitter * '' Solanum sycocarpum'' (= ''Cyphomandra lobata'' Sendtn. in Mart.) * '' Solanum tegore'' Aubl. (= ''Cyphomandra tejore'' Sendtn. ex Walp.) * '' Solanum tenuisetosum'' (Bitter) Bohs * '' Solanum tobagense'' (= ''Cyphomandra bolivarensis'' Steyerm.) * '' Solanum unilobum'' (Rusby) Bohs

Formerly placed here

Species formerly in the genus ''Cyphomandra'' which are not members of the ''Cyphomandra'' clade are: * '' Solanum abutiloides'' (Griseb.) Bitter & Lillo

Footnotes

References

* (1988): Four new species of ''Cyphomandra'' (Solanaceae) from South America. ''Systematic Botany'' 13(2): 265-275
First page image
* (1989): Ethnobotany of the genus ''Cyphomandra'' (Solanaceae). ''Economic Botany'' 43(2): 143-163 nglish with Spanish abstract (HTML abstract and first page image) * (1994): ''Cyphomandra'' (Solanaceae). ''Flora Neotropica'' 63: 1-175. * (1995): Transfer of ''Cyphomandra'' (Solanaceae) and Its Species to ''Solanum''. ''

Taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

'' 44(4): 583-587
First page image
* 008br>Phylogeny
Retrieved 2008-OCT-01. {{Taxonbar, from=Q14944340 Solanum Historically recognized angiosperm genera