title: New functionally dioecious bush tomato from northwestern Australia, Solanum ossicruentum, may utilize "trample burr" dispersal.
abstract: A new Australian species of functionally dioecious bush tomato of Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum is described. Solanum ossicruentum Martine & J.Cantley, sp. nov., is thought to be allied with members of the problematic "Dioicum Complex" lineage, but differs in its short silvery indumentum, long calyx lobes, larger stature, and an unusual fruit morphology that may represent "trample burr" seed dispersal. The species occurs in a range extending from the eastern Kimberley in Western Australia to far northwestern Northern Territory and has been recognized for decades as a variant of Solanum dioicum W.Fitzg. Specimens of this species were previously referred to by D.E. Symon and others as Solanum dioicum 'Tanami.' Ex situ crossing studies and SEM images of inaperturate pollen grains produced in morphologically hermaphrodite flowers indicate that this taxon is functionally dioecious. The scientific name was chosen with the help of 150 seventh grade life science students from Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Bucknell University, 1 Dent Drive, Lewisburg, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Martine
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Bucknell University, 1 Dent Drive, Lewisburg, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Jason T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Cantley
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Bucknell University, 1 Dent Drive, Lewisburg, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Emma S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Frawley
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Bucknell University, 1 Dent Drive, Lewisburg, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Alice R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Bucknell University, 1 Dent Drive, Lewisburg, PA, USA; University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Ingrid E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Jordon-Thaden
keywords: Bush tomato; Keep River National Park; Kimberley; Mirima National Park; Northern Territory; Solanum; Solanum dioicum; Solanum sp. Tanami; Western Australia; cryptic dioecy; inaperturate pollen; new species; undergraduate research