Solanum lesteri

Description

Solanum lesteri distribution Map note

Solanum lesteri is a woodland plant, native to Mexico, where is is known only from Oaxaca.  Plants range from just over a foot to about 4.5 feet tall.  Fruits long and severely pointed.  Leaves are densely covered with glandular hairs.

The specific epithet, lesteri, honors Richard N. Lester, the British botanist who first collected the species.  While there is no completely standardized pronunciation for scientific names, the most common way to pronounce this species is probably so-LAY-num LES-ter-ee.

This species can survive frosts down to 27.5 degrees F (-2.5 C) (Li 1977).  Vega (1995) found that this species is less frost tolerant than domesticated potato.

Resistances

Condition Type Level of Resistance Source
Alternaria solani (Early Blight) Fungus Somewhat resistant Jansky 2008
Pectobacterium carotovorum (Blackleg/Soft Rot) Bacteria Not resistant Chung 2011
Phytophthora infestans (Late Blight) Fungus Some resistance Perez 2019
Potato Virus Y (PVY) Virus Not resistant Cai 2011

Glykoalkaloid content

Images

Flower of the wild potato species Solanum lesteri
Solanum lesteri flower
Flower of the wild potato species Solanum lesteri
Solanum lesteri flower
Berries of the wild potato species Solanum lesteri
Solanum lesteri berries
Tubers of the wild potato species Solanum lesteri
Solanum lesteri tubers

Cultivation

I have found seeds of this species easy to germinate using the standard conditions for S. tuberosum.  Seedlings are large and robust compared to most wild species and domesticated varieties.

Breeding

EBN has not been established for this species.  Most B genome potatoes have 1EBN, but Tiwari (2019) shows this species grouping closely with S. polyadenium, the only known member of the B genome with 2EBN.

Crosses with S. tuberosum

Female Male Berry Set Seed Set Germination Ploidy Source
S. tuberosum S. lesteri Minimal None Jackson (1999)
S. lesteri S. tuberosum None None Jackson (1999)

Crosses with other species

Watanabe (1991) found that 6.3% (which was only 1 plant) of varieties of this species produced 2n pollen and Jackson (1999) found 2-13%, which would be effectively tetraploid and probably 2EBN.

Female Male Berry Set Seed Set Germination Ploidy Source

References

Solanum lesteri at Solanaceae Source

Solanum lesteri at GRIN Taxonomy