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The Morelloid clade, also known as the black nightshades or "Maurella" (Morella), is one of the 10 major clades within the mega-diverse genus Solanum L. The clade is most diverse in the central to southern Andes, but species occur around the tropics and subtropics, some extending well into the temperate zone. Plants of the group vary from herbs to short-lived perennials to perennial shrubs that are distinctly woody at the base, they have small mostly white or purplish white flowers and small juicy berries. Due to the complex morphological variation and weedy nature of these plants, coupled with the large number of published synonyms (especially for European taxa), our understanding of species limits and diversity in the Morelloid clade has lagged behind that of other clades in Solanum. Here we provide the last in a three-part series of monographic treatments of the morelloid solanums (see PhytoKeys Vols. 106, 125), treating the 62 species occurring in South America. This region is by far the most diverse in the clade, both in terms of species number and morphological diversity. We provide complete synonymy, nomenclatural details, including lecto- and neotypifications where needed, common names and uses, morphological descriptions, illustrations to aid identification both in herbaria and in the field, and distribution maps for all native, non-cultivated species. We include a key to all species, a synoptic character list for the species treated here and links to synoptic online keys for all species of the Morelloid clade. Preliminary conservation assessments following IUCN guidelines are also provided for all native species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Fossil discoveries can transform our understanding of plant diversification over time and space. Recently described fossils in many plant families have pushed their known records farther back in time, pointing to alternative scenarios for their origin and spread.Here, we describe two new Eocene fossil berries of the nightshade family (Solanaceae) from the Esmeraldas Formation in Colombia and the Green River Formation in Colorado (USA). The placement of the fossils was assessed using clustering and parsimony analyses based on 10 discrete and five continuous characters, which were also scored in 291 extant taxa.The Colombian fossil grouped with members of the tomatillo subtribe, and the Coloradan fossil aligned with the chili pepper tribe. Along with two previously reported early Eocene fossils from the tomatillo genus, these findings indicate that Solanaceae were distributed at least from southern South America to northwestern North America by the early Eocene.Together with two other recently discovered Eocene berries, these fossils demonstrate that the diverse berry clade and, in turn, the entire nightshade family, is much older and was much more widespread in the past than previously thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluorochrome chromosome banding and fluorescent in situ hybridization were used to cytogenetically characterize the striking tropical Andean clade species of Capsicum. An adapted dendrogram of the Capsicum phylogeny is presented, showing taxonomic relationships between karyotypes of the Andean clade species, C. baccatum var. pendulum, C. flexuosum, and the sister group Lycianthes. To date, the Andean clade includes nine species: C. dimorphum, C. geminifolium, C. hookerianum, C. lanceolatum, C. longifolium, C. lycianthoides, C. piuranum, C. regale and C. rhomboideum, all displaying 2n = 26. This group is characterized by conspicuous cytogenetic characters that are very useful in the identification of their species and allow them to be distinguished from the other group of species with x = 13 from the Atlantic forest, and definitely from the clades with x = 12. The species of the Andean clade possess relatively short genomes, with one NOR per haploid complement. The distribution of the heterochromatin is mainly subterminal. A single locus of the 35S and 5S rDNA was found per haploid complement. The discovery of three pairs of 5S rDNA sites in C. regale was surprising. The chromosomal features of these highland clade species could be considered adaptive characters to their geographical distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]