Vassobia breviflora

Tilcayo Cats original · Plants · Sources and editorial assessment · Originals retention rule

Vassobia breviflora is a shrub or small tree in the nightshade family, Solanaceae, found in Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Brazil and Argentina. The Flora del Cono Sur describes it as a thorny plant, usually two to four metres tall, sometimes reaching five metres.

Appearance

Its stalked, oval leaves have small tufts of hairs where veins meet on the underside. Short shoots carry groups of hanging lilac flowers, with pale centres. Rounded, slightly flattened berries change from orange to deep red as they ripen; the seeds are dark brown.

A 2015 anatomical study of plants from three sites in north-western Argentina found both simple and glandular hairs on the floral parts. It also identified a nectar-producing region at the base of the ovary.

Habitat and reproduction

In north-western Argentina, the 2015 study describes the species from Yungas forest margins and transitional Chaco woodland, up to about 2,000 metres. Flowers and fruits occur in spring and summer in that region. The authors report insect pollination, especially by bees, and consumption of the fruits by birds and bats.

They infer that seed dispersal takes place after animals swallow the fruits. That interpretation should be distinguished from a direct seed-dispersal experiment: the paper's own investigation concerned the microscopic structure of flowers, fruits and seeds collected in 2013.

Names

Kew accepts Vassobia breviflora, a combination published by Armando Hunziker in 1977. USDA's GRIN database identifies Acnistus breviflorus Sendtn. as its basionym, the earlier name on which the combination was based. It also lists Acnistus parviflorus Griseb. as a synonym. Both old names therefore lead to this one account.