Vascular Plants Australian Plant Name Index (APNI)

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Showing Solanum watneyi

Solanaceae Juss.

, legitimate

, scientific

3-11, Figs 1 (map), 2-3 APC

[tax. nov.]

Type: "AUSTRALIA. Northern Territory: Judbarra/Gregory National Park, Bullita Stock Route, 6 km north of Bullita Campground turnoff, 16°03.100"S, 130°27.201"E, 6 May 2014 (staminate and hermaphrodite flowers; fruit), Christopher T. Martine and Rachel F. Martine 4065 (holotype: DNA; isotypes: BUPL, CONN)"

Etymology: "The specific epithet of “watneyi” is inspired by the book and film, The Martian, in which the protagonist finds himself stranded on Mars surrounded by the planet’s harsh terrain and reddish soils. In a shelter, he manages to grow a crop of potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) before finally being rescued by his astronaut colleagues. We’ve chosen to name Solanum watneyi after this character, Mark Watney, in part because of the similarly reddish soils of its habitat and the congeneric nature of the potato – but, most notably, as a way to honor the creation of a sci-fi hero botanist by author Andy Weir ... and to acknowledge perhaps the finest paean to botanical science (and botanical field work) that Hollywood has yet presented..."