Solarium sectionPetota in Costa Rica: taxonomy and genetic resources

Prior to 1996, worldwide holdings of germplasm of wild potatoes from Costa Rica amounted to just two collections; this country therefore formed a priority for collecting. We mapped all localities of wild potatoes from herbarium specimen data from Costa Rica and collected throughout the country. We made 13 collections, 10 of these with botanical seeds. These collections considerably extend the numbers of accessions and geographic range of the germplasm available from Costa Rica. The taxonomic identity of the species of wild potatoes (Solanum sect. Petota) in Costa Rica was previously unresolved. Our fieldwork supports the concept that Costa Rican wild potatoes belong to a single species,S. longiconicum.