Cyphomandra was a formerly accepted
genus in the plant family
Solanaceae (the
nightshades and relative). It used to contain about 35
species native to the Americas from
Mexico southwards to Northern
Argentina.[1]
Recent authors have treated Cyphomandra as a
clade within the genus Solanum 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
subgenusLeptostemonum. Thus, if it is preferred to retain the
taxon, Cyphomandra is probably best considered a
section in Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum.[2]
Most grow as shrubs or small trees 2 or 3 metres in height. The best known species is the widely cultivated
Tamarillo 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 where they are native.[3]
Species
Species contained in the Cyphomandra clade, with their former
specific epithets cited if they have significantly changed when moving to Solanum, are:[4]
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 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 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.)
Bohs, Lynn (1988): Four new species of Cyphomandra (Solanaceae) from South America. Systematic Botany13(2): 265-275.
First page image
Bohs, Lynn (1989): Ethnobotany of the genus Cyphomandra (Solanaceae). Economic Botany43(2): 143-163 [English with Spanish abstract].
doi:
10.1007/BF02859855 (HTML abstract and first page image)