Return to Wild Potato Index

Purchase seeds or tubers of Solanum minutifoliolum

---

Description

Solanum minutifoliolum is a species of small distribution in central Ecuador, growing at elevations of 8,200 to 9,800 feet (2500 to 3000 m).  Plants grow to about three feet tall.  Flowers stellate and blue to purple.  Very little has been written about this species.

The specific epithet, minutifoliolum, refers to the small leaflets of this species.  It is formed from the Latin words “minutus,” for “small,” and “foliolum,” for “leaf.”  While there is no completely standardized pronunciation for scientific names, the most common way to pronounce this species is probably so-LAY-num min-oo-tih-foh-lee-OH-lum.

Resistances

Chacon (2007) noted that this species was difficult to infect with late blight, but that it demonstrated no resistance once infection was successful.

Condition	Type	Level of Resistance	Source
Phytophthora infestans (Late Blight)	Fungus	Not Resistant	Chacon 2007

Glykoalkaloid content

No information is available about glycoalkaloid content in this species.

Images

Cultivation

I have found seeds of this species very difficult to germinate using the standard conditions for S. tuberosum.

Accessions Evaluated

The following accessions were examined to prepare this profile.  I have evaluated 1/1 accessions currently available from the US potato genebank.

PI 583298

The first attempt to germinate this accession failed.  On the second attempt, I placed the pot outside after attempting to germinate for two months and finally got a single seedling after three months outdoors, so a total of five months to the first germination.

Breeding

Crosses with S. tuberosum

Female	Male	Berry Set	Seed Set	Ploidy	Germ	Source

Crosses with other species

Female	Male	Berry Set	Seed Set	Ploidy	Germ	Source

References

Solanum minutifoliolum at Solanaceae Source

Solanum minutifoliolum at GRIN Taxonomy

Solanum minutifoliolum at CIP