First report of Duchesnea indica f. albocaput (Rosaceae) in Northwestern Argentina.

Abstract

: The genus Duchesnea includes two species originally from India: D. indica and D. chrysantha. In Northwestern Argentina the monitoring of wild strawberry-like species was carried out; during 2002- 2016, many populations of D. indica and none of D. chrysantha were discovered. Red- and white-fruited plants of D. indica were collected from disturbed areas and ex situ conserved in green-house and in nursery conditions. Were also consulted materials from different national and international herbaria, and we only found reports of D. indica with red fruit for Argentina. In the present work, we report for the first time the presence of D. indica f. albocaput in Argentina and South America, cohabiting with populations of D. indica f. indica in the underwoods of Tucumán. This finding broadens the distribution range of D. indica f. albocaput, cited as endemic to Japan by Naruhashi 1992. The morphological and anatomical characters of the two botanical forms of D. indica (red fruit genotypes and white fruit genotypes) are also presented: fruit color, number of leaflets, and crystal form