Normania, an endemic Macaronesian genus distinct from Solanum (Solanaceae)

Morphological data and results from scanning electron microscopy of seeds and pollen show that Normania Lowe [syn. Solanum L. subg. Potatoe (G. Don) D'Arcy sect. Normania (Lowe) Bitter] (Solanaceae: Solaneae) should be considered as a distinct genus from Solanum L. It has two species, one restricted to the island of Madeira [Normania triphylla (Lowe) Lowe] and the other to Tenerife and Gran Canaria [Normania nava (Webb & Berthel.) Franc.-Ort. & R. N. Lester]. These species are extremely rare and had not been found for about 100 years, until N. nava was rediscovered in two different localities in Tenerife in 1973 and 1982. Normania triphylla was reported in two different places from northern Madeira in 1991. Both species have the highest conservation priority in the Macaronesian region.