Taxonomy
Solanum sanchez-vegae © Bobbi Angell
Solanum sanchez-vegae is a member of a large group of species to which the European woody nightshade, Solanum dulcamara, also belongs. These plants are usually vines or vining shrubs that climb with the leaf stalks (petioles). The leaves are often of varying shapes; those of S. sanchez-vegae are always unlobed as far as we know. The flowers of S. sanchez-vegae are very large for this group, they can be 2-3 cm in diameter and are very showy – this would make a good garden plant. It is most similar to another South American species, S. aureum, that is found in Ecuador at similar elevations, but that has smaller flowers and hairier stems and leaves.
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Reference
Knapp, S. (2010) Four new vining species of Solanum (Dulcamaroid clade) from montane habitats in tropical America. PLoS ONE