Description

Solanum morelliforme (morelliforme, meaning similar in form to S. nigrum, which was once known as black morel) is a contender for the most unusual wild potato, as it is an epiphyte, typically growing on or near oak and pine trees.  This is a widespread species in central Mexico and extends south into Honduras.  Plants grow from about 3 to 18 inches tall.  The berries are very small – about 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch in diameter and contain only 5 to 15 seeds, much less than most potato species.

A disjuct (geographically separated) population of S. morelliforme was discovered in Bolivia in 2010 (Simon 2011).  This is very surprising considering that there is a 2500 mile gap between the North and South American populations.  No other wild potato species has a natural distribution on both continents.

This species can survive frosts down to 26 degrees F (-3.5 C) (Li 1977).  Vega (1995) found that this species is less frost tolerant than domesticated potato and was among the least tolerant of the wild potato species.

Resistances

Condition	Type	Level of Resistance	Source
Frost	Abiotic	Somewhat Resistant	Machida-Hirano 2015
Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Colorado Potato Beetle)	Invertebrate	Somewhat Resistant	Machida-Hirano 2015
Phytophthora infestans (Late Blight)	Fungus	Somewhat Resistant	Machida-Hirano 2015
Phytophthora infestans (Late Blight)	Fungus	Some resistance	Karki 2020

Glykoalkaloid content

No information is available about glycoalkaloid content, but it is typically low in diploid North American species.  I tasted one small tuber and detected no bitterness.

Images

Cultivation

Bamberg (2018) found that germination of at least some accessions of this species is inhibited by alternating temperatures.  I reproduced that quite successfully, as we got zero germination from seeds sown under our standard 65 F day / 50 F night temperature alternation.  I tried again at constant temperature and got a little germination, but still not as much as expected.

I have found plants quite difficult to keep alive outdoors.

Breeding

Crosses with S. tuberosum

Female	Male	Berry Set	Seed Set	Germination	Ploidy	Source

Crosses with other species

Watanabe (1991) found that 8.1% of varieties of this species produced 2n pollen, which would be effectively tetraploid and probably 2EBN.

Female	Male	Berry Set	Seed Set	Germination	Ploidy	Source

References

Solanum morelliforme at Solanaceae Source

Solanum morelliforme at GRIN Taxonomy